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MAY 18 W927 | 
Leo OGICA wwe 
The Church and Socia 


Relations 


A TEXT FOR DISCUSSION GROUPS AND 
CHURCH SCHOOL CLASSES 
BY 


HUBERT C."HERRING 


Secretary of the Commission on Social Relations 
of the Congregational Churches 


AND 


BENSON Y. ‘LANDIS 


Associate Secretary of the Department of Research and 
Education, Federal Council of Churches 


me 


BOSTON THE PILGRIM PRESS CHICAGO 


COPYRIGHT 1926 
By SIDNEY A. WESTON 


INTRODUCTION 


action about social relations on the part of young 
peoples’ and adult groups in church schools and other 
organizations. 

It is based upon the Statement of Social Ideals of the Con- 
gregational Churches, the discussion in each chapter being 
devoted to a specific declaration from the statement. These 
are given at the beginning of each chapter. ‘This statement 
is one of many similar statements which have been adopted 
by the churches of America. This text is adapted to the study 
of the fundamental issues raised by all such statements. ‘The 
declarations of this statement are presented in order to draw 
out critical examination of their implications. 


Ae text has one purpose—to stimulate thinking and 


The statement contains thirty-nine articles, which reach out 
into a wide field of human relations. The quotations are pre- 
sented from other sources which cover special topics more 
comprehensively than is here possible. The references suggest 
the wealth of available data. It is obviously impossible for 
a book of this scope to attempt a systematic treatment of such 
a variety of subjects. Its purpose is to open up the subject, 
and suggest some of the trails which the student might prof- 
itably take. 


This book is for the use of young people’s and adult groups 
in the church school, for discussion groups, and for men’s and 
women’s clubs whose members wish to consider their respon- 
sibilities for creating a better social order. 


This book should be used as a trail-breaker, rather than an 
encyclopedia. It is designed to suggest methods and lines of 
discussion. The value of the discussion based upon it will 
depend upon the amount of time which members of the group 
spend in following up the books, pamphlets, and articles which 

are suggested, and in assembling data about their own com- 
_ munities. 


The material is arranged under thirty-nine heads. With 
this division it will be found to fit well into three quarters 
of the church school year. By making eliminations or group- 
ing subdivisions the material can be covered in a half year 
or even in one quarter. ‘The authors hope, however, that 
discussion groups will make use of the material in accordance 
with their own peculiar needs. 


I 


CONTENTS 


SUGGESTIONS TO ‘TEACHERS AND LEADERS . 
Wuy ConsmpDER SocriAL RELATIONS? 


PART I—SOCIAL IDEALS AND EDUCATION 


II 
III 
iV 

V 

VI 
VII 
Vili 


Every Cuitp—His RIGHTs 

THE OPEN Door IN EDUCATION 

Wuy CHRISTIAN EDUCATION ? 
SAFEGUARDING THE HEALTH OF Rain 
SHALL WE HAVE FREE SPEECH? 

THE MARGINAL FOLKS 

EDUCATING FOR PEACE 


PART II—SOCIAL IDEALS FOR INDUSTRY 


e@ 
RECIPROCITY OF SERVICE 


PRopERTY—ITs RIGHTS AND Dude 
CHILDREN WuHuo Tol. . 

THE WorkKING Day 

SAFEGUARDING INDUSTRIAL Connitany 
UNEMPLOYMENT 

A MINIMUM COMFORT Wace ‘ 
INVESTIGATION — PUBLICITY — omerns —- 
ARBITRATION 

THE RIGHT OF ee TO SOREN Hiae 

THE RIGHT OF THE CONSUMER TO Gees 
Is SERVICE AN INCENTIVE? 


III—SOCIAL IDEALS AND AGRICULTURE 


A Fair REWARD FOR FARMING 

THE HicH Cost oF DISTRIBUTION 

THE RIGHT OF THE FARMER TO ORGANIZE 
Fark PLAY FoR RuRAL EDUCATION 

RurAL SociaAL LIFE : 
THE DEVEIOPMENT OF Ronan anvictryitte : 
CaN CITY AND COUNTRY COOPERATE? 


Vii 


XXVII 
XXVIII 
XXIX 
XXX 


PART IV—RACIAL RELATIONS 


A Farr DEAL FoR Every RACE 
DISCRIMINATION VS. BROTHERHOOD 
Tue Cotor LINE WITHIN THE CHURCH 
MEETING THE IMMIGRANT’S NEEDS . 


PART V—INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 


XXXI 
XXXII 
XXXIII 
XXXIV 
XXXV 
XXXVI 
XXXVII 
XXXVIII 


XX XIX 


Can BarRIERS BETWEEN NATIONS BE REMOVED? 
NATIONAL WEALTH AND WoRLD RESPONSIBILITY 
PoIsoONED NEWS 

THE DOLLAR AND THE FL AG 

How Mucu ARMAMENT? 

SHALL THE CHURCH BLESS Sie 
AN ORGANIZED WORLD 

How CAN THE CHURCH Ree ge 
MUNITY ? ‘ 

DoEs THE GHinkeny eee nea 


Com- 
APPENDIX 


A STATEMENT OF SociAL IDEALS 


BOOKSHELF OF SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Vili 


101 
104 
108 


pea Ul 


117 
121 
125 
130 
133 
136 
140 


143 
146 


151 


156 


SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 
AND LEADERS 


HIS outline is planned to secure a discussion of the 
experience of members of the participating group in 

the social relations in their own communities. It is 
suggested that the procedure be somewhat as follows: 

Take up one of the questions which appear first in each 
chapter or any other which you may frame.’ Secure expres- 
sions of experience and data from the members of the group. 
Pool the available information. Jot down the points on a 
blackboard. Be sure to bring out opposing points of view. 
Ask for explanations of the reasons for the differences. The 
aim should be to promote a quest for understanding and 
information and a quest for improving social relations in the 
community. Though views may not, or should not be har- 
monized, nevertheless, there should be a cooperative consid- 
eration of responsibility for creating a better social order. 

Take time to consider carefully and critically the sources 
ef information about local conditions. Review these for ade- 
quacy; consider how they might be improved. 

The resources of the group may be supplemented by the 
reference material and by the book reviews given after the 
questions for discussion. The reference material is selective 
and not exhaustive. It is furnished to illustrate the kind of 
sources which are available for the study of social relations. 

Books, pamphlets, or articles listed should be assigned in 
advance to various members for reading and report. 

All members of the class or discussion group should own a 
copy of this book in order to carry on the study to best 
advantage. 

The authors urge all leaders and teachers who use this 
book to write them what the experience has been and espe- 
cially to send criticism of content and the suggested procedure. 

To keep in constant touch with case material on social rela- 
tions subscribe to the Information Service of the Department 


ix 


of Research and Education, Federal Council of Churches, 105 
East 22nd Street, New York. (Weekly except August. $2.00 
a year.) The pamphlets and books of the department will 
also be useful. 

For suggestions as to methods of conducting discussion 
groups and for other valuable material subscribe to The 
Inquiry, published by the The Inquiry (Conference on the 
Christian Way of Life), 129 East 52nd Street, New York. 
$2.00 a year.) Also consult the other publications of the 
Inquiry. 


CHAPTER I 


WHY CONSIDER SOCIAL RELATIONS? 


We believe in making the social and spiritual ideals of 
Jesus our test for community as well as for individual 
life; in strengthening and deepening the inner personal 
relationship of the individual with God, and recognizing 
his obligation and duty to society. This is crystallized 
in the two commandments of Jesus: “Love thy God, love 
thy neighbor.” We believe this pattern ideal for a Chris- 
tian social order involves the recognition of the sacred- 
ness of life, the supreme worth of each single person- 
ality, and our common membership in one another—the 
brotherhood of all. In short, it means creative activity 
in cooperation with our fellow human beings, and with 
God, in the everyday life of society and in the develop- 
ment of a new and better world social order.—Preamble 
of the Statement of Social Ideals. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What evidences are there in our community of the complexity 
of our social life, of our dependence one upon another? 

By what methods do economic, social, and religious groups 
influence the behavior ‘of individuals? 

Are there instances of outstanding differences between social 
groups in our community? How are those differences being 
adjusted? 

Is there need of better relations between different groups in 
our community and how may these be brought about? 

How may we come to fuller understanding of individuals 
and groups with which we differ? 

In our experience how large a part do the motives of in- 
dividuals play in changing group codes and rules? Are we 
convinced that Christian incentive on the part of individuals 
can’ change groups and the social order, or do we feel that 


1 


THE .CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


motives are shaped largely by the groups of which we are 
members and the social situations in which we find ourselves? 

What help do the teachings and life of Jesus give us in 
dealing with these questions? 


(These questions may be replaced or supplemented by others.) 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Principles of “The Fellowship for a 
Christian Social Order” 


We believe that according to the life and teaching of Jesus, 
the supreme task of mankind is the creation of a social order, 
the kingdom of God on earth, wherein the maximum opportu- 
nity shall be afforded for the development and enrichment of 
every human personality; in which the supreme motive shall be 
love; wherein men shall cooperate in service for the common 
good and brotherhood shall be a reality in all of the daily re- 
lationships of life. 

We must, therefore, endeavor to transform such unchristian 
attitudes and practices as now hinder fellowship; extravagant 
luxury for some, while many live in poverty and want; exces- 
sive concentration of power and privilege as a result of vast 
wealth in the hands of a few; monopoly of natural resources 
for private gain; autocratic control of industry by any group; 
production for individual profit and power rather than for so- 
cial use and service; arrogance and antagonism of classes, na- 
tions and races; war, the final denial of brotherhood. 

We believe that in the spirit and principles of Jesus is found 
the way of overcoming these evils, and that within the Chris- 
tian Church there should be a unity of purpose and endeavor 
for the achieving of a Christian social order. By means of fel- 
lowship in thought and prayer we come to understand the 
point of view of those who differ from us, make possible new 
discoveries of truth, and aid one another in the solution of 
common problems. We believe that social changes should be 
effected through educational and spiritual processes, especially 
by an open-minded examination of existing evils and suggested 
solutions, full discussion, and varied experimentation. We 
pledge ourselves to a vigorous activity in seeking by these 
means a solution of the social problems which we ‘face. (Miss 


2 





WHY CONSIDER SOCIAL RELATIONS? 


Amy Blanche Greene, 347 Madison Ave., N. Y., is executive 
secretary of the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order.) 


Catholic Teaching on Social Questions 


Three recent press releases of the Department of Social Ac- 
tion of the National Catholic Welfare Conference illustrate the 
definiteness with which this department applies Catholic teach- 
ing to important issues of the day. In commenting upon the 
rapid forming of new trusts called mergers in American in- 
dustry during the past few years, the Catholic Bishops’ Program 
of Social Reconstruction is quoted. This program rejected 
government price-fixing of commodities, after due consideration 
was given to the proposal, but warned that “the extortionate 
practices of monopoly” should be “prevented by adequate laws 
and adequate enforcement.” The Bishops’ Program also im- 
plied “that if private monopoly becomes so strong as to with- 
stand the government, government-owned concerns might be in 
order.” ‘Then the Bishops’ Program passed on to recommend 
the consumers’ cooperative movement as something more im- 
portant and effective than government regulation of prices. 

A statement is made calling attention to conditions in Porto 
Rico, and the request of Porto Ricans for an impartial study of 
economic conditions on the island. The new policy of the 
American Federation of Labor in regard to wages was fore- 
shadowed in the Bishops’ Program of Social Reconstruction, it 
is also announced, only “the Bishops’ Program looks to the 
establishment of cooperative production and copartnership so- 
cieties and it declares that until this is created, we will not 
have an efficient system of production nor a society safe from 
revolution.” 


How Groups Control Individual Practices 


The greater part of each man’s personal experience is made 
up of his interaction with others in the multifarious relations 
of life, and these relations, from the earliest known phases of 
human society, are controlled by customs which arise out of 
the needs of social life, and are maintained by the social tradi- 
tion. Through this tradition society exerts a continuous con- 
trol over the individual, of which avowed and obvious coercion 


3 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


is the least important element. ‘The vital factor is that from 
infancy upwards the social milieu into which he is born inter- 
penetrates his thought and will, and turns his individuality into 
a creation of the time and place of his life—Social Evolution 
and Political Theory, by Hobhouse. Columbia University Press. 


The “Social Gospel’ Challenged 


Bulletin No. 55 of the National Association of Manufacturers, 
New York, is entitled Imdustry, Society and the Church. It is 
made up of selections from the writings of Dean Inge of St. 
Paul’s Cathedral, London. The strong individualistic views of 
Dean Inge are well known, and this collection of statements, 
taken largely from the two volumes, Outspoken Essays, but con- 
taining certain more recent pronouncements, constitutes a for- 
midable attack upon the very thesis of social Christianity. 
According to Dean Inge, Christianity “has very little to do 
directly with the mechanism of social life”; its gospel is “not 
one of social improvement, but of spiritual redemption”; it 
“sets a very small value on all the apparatus of civilized life”; 
the church has enough work of its own to do “without trying 
to enlighten political experts on their own subjects”; the gospel 
“contains no program of social reform.” Says the “gloomy 
Dean,” “I am not favorably impressed with internationalism as 
I have met with it.” 

Organized labor is in the Dean’s mind nothing short of a 
giant foe to social progress. He charges the trade unions with 
a “legalization of terrorism.” The labor movement is ‘“‘eco- 
nomically rotten.” The big trade unions are “plundering both 
the owners of their ‘plant,’ and the general public.” They have 
“made the welcome discovery that they can ‘hold up’ the com- 
munity as successfully as ever Dick Turpin waylaid a coach.” 


Christianity and Social Science, by Charles A. Ellwood. Mac- 
millan. 

The Story of Social Christianity, by Francis Herbert Stead. 
2 vols. Doran. 

Christianity and the Social Crisis, by Walter Rauschenbusch. 
Association Press. 


: PART | 
SOCIAL IDEALS AND EDUCATION 








CHAPTER II 


EVERY CHILD — HIS RIGHTS 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into education means: 
The building of a social order in which every child has 
the best opportunity for development. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What children in our community have at present the best 
opportunities for development? 

Where are the underprivileged children to be found? What 
do these underprivileged children need most? 

How may we assure to each child the best opportunities? 

Can our church create more,opportunities for underprivileged 
children? If so, suggest some of them. 

How can our church cooperate with other churches in these 
activities? 

What can our church do to cooperate with the schools and 
social. organizations in these activities? 

What teachings and examples of Jesus assist us here? 

(These questions may be replaced or supplemented by others.) 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Poverty and Infant Mortality 


In releasing its study, Economic Factors in Infant Mortality, 
by R. M. Woodbury, the Federal Children’s Bureau says: Using 
the mass of data secured in the bureau’s investigations of in- 
-fant mortality in seven American cities, during which records 
were accumulated for over 21,000 legitimate live births, Dr. 
Woodbury proves a casual relationship between fathers’ earn- 
ings and infant mortality by statistical methods which permit 
the isolation of the economic factor from associated factors in 
studying its effect on the baby’s chance to live. Quite apart 
from the type of feeding, the color or nationality of the 
mother, and from factors associated with frequent births, in- 


7 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


fant mortality rates were found to rise as fathers’ earnings 
fell. The influence of poverty, it is pointed out, is probably 
indirect, being reflected in the inability to give the mother and 
baby good care and to pay for the medical and nursing service. 


Pauline’s Story 


Pauline was a girl of sixteen, living as so many thousands 
of youny girls from broken homes do now, entirely on her own 
earnings. Her mother was dead, her father unknown. She 
earned fourteen dollars a week making automobile tires. Her 
probation officer had placed her in a suitable boarding home. 
When spring came she flowered forth in new clothes and ear- 
rings of the extreme style of the period. She had obtained 
credit for an outfit costing over a hundred dollars, though of 
course the actual value was not a third of that amount. No 
real investigation of her financial status was made by the 
“company.” In proportion to her income she had obtained 
credit which no business man or woman could hope to obtain. 
She was so obviously immature that credit should have been 
denied her on the ground that it was poor business, and the 
more humane view that it was for her welfare. Pauline made 
a few futile efforts to pay that required four dollars per week. 
Then she became a fugitive. She gave up her job, sought one 
as cigarette girl in a cabaret, gave this up because she was 
annoyed by men, took a position as usherette in a theatre, dyed 
her hair, changed her name and her boarding home trying 
vainly to elude the collector. Pauline finally disappeared and 
the court has no trace of her.”—Youth in Conflict, by Miriam 
Van Waters. ‘The Republic Publishing Company. 


Education for Democracy 


A society marked off into classes need be specially attentive 
only to the education of its ruling elements. A society which 
is mobile, which is full of channels for the distribution of a 
change occurring anywhere, must see to it that its members 
are educated to personal initiative and adaptability. Other- 
wise they will be overwhelmed by the changes in which they 
are caught and whose significance or connections they do not 
perceive—Democracy and Education, by John Dewey. Re- 
printed by permission of the Macmillan Company. 


8 


EVERY CHILD—HIS RIGHTS 
The Happiness of Childhood 


Childhood . . . with all its extravagancies and uncertainties, 
its effusion and reticences, . . . remains a standing proof of a 
life wherein growth is normal not an anomaly, activity a de- 
light not a task, and where habit-forming is an expansion of 
power not its shrinkage. Habit and impulse may war with 
each other, but it is a combat between the habits of adults and 
the impulses of the young, and not, as with the adult, a civil 
warfare whereby personality is rent asunder.—Human Nature 
and Conduct, by John Dewey. Henry Holt and Co. 


The Child, the Clinic and the Court. New Republic, Inc. 

The Child: His Nature and His Needs. The Children’s Foun- 
dation. . 

‘New Values in Child Welfare. The Annals. Thirty-two ar- 
ticles on all aspects of child welfare. 

Child versus Parent, by Stephen S. Wise. Macmillan. 


CHAPTER III 


THE OPEN DOOR IN EDUCATION 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into education means: 
Adequate and equal educational opportunity for all, with 
the possibility of extended training for those competent. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What is our idea of “adequate” educational opportunity? 

What is our idea of “equal” educational opportunity? 

In what respect does our community fail to provide equal ’ 
and adequate educational opportunity for all? 

In what respect do our country and state fail to provide 
equal and adequate educational opportunity for all? 

How may the situation be improved? 

How can our church help? 

How can we cooperate with the educational institutions? 

For which vocations and occupations should the state and 
community provide free instruction? 

Should the nation allow a smaller expenditure of money per 
year per pupil for the education of rural children than for 
city children? 

How may we help to secure equal opportunity for rural as 
compared with city children? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


The Inequality of Educational Opportunity 


Some Children Attend Schools: 

1. Open 200 days a year —well organized and carefully 
supervised. 

2. Taught by trained, experienced, mature, well-paid and 
competent teachers. ’ 

3. Conducted in modern, fireproof, sanitary, and well- 
equipped buildings. 

4. Adequately supplied with the best text-books and teach- 
ing materials. 

10 


THE OPEN DOOR IN EDUCATION 


5. Which train for the great opportunities and responsibili- 
ties of twentieth-century civilization. 


Others Attend Schools: 


1. Open only a few weeks a year—poorly organized and 
unsupervised. 

2. ‘Taught by untrained, inexperienced, immature, underpaid, 
and incompetent teachers. 

3. Conducted in ill-adapted, unsanitary shacks—a menace 
to safety and health. 

4. Lacking suitable text-books and other necessary teaching 
materials. 

5. Which train for life as it was in the days. of the ox cart 
and spinning wheel.—Bulletin No. 2 of the Research Depart- 
ment of the National Education Association, Washington, D.C. 
November, 1922. 


Government and Human Welfare 


1. Five Billions in 1920. [Federal Budget] 
a. 92.8% war. 
b. 3 Y% public works. 
ce. 3.2% primary government functions. 
d. 1 % education, research, and development. 

2. Fifty dollars per capita of which 50 cents goes for educa- 
tion, research, development. 

3. In 1920 a total of one billion was spent for education— 
2% of the national income; 22.7 billions for luxuries... . 

4. A saving of 5% on face powder, furs, soft drinks, 
cigarettes, cigars, chewing gum could double education ex- 
penditures. 

5. We should spend 5 billions at least on education. 

6. City schools cost per pupil $51.57, rural $33.67.—Soci- 
ology of Human Behavior, by Daniel Harrison Kulp. Teachers’ 
College, Columbia University. 


Rural Versus Urban Schools 


Health examinations disclose defects in urban children 72%, 
in rural children 87%. 
11.8% of the children in the country are not attending school. 


11 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


4% of the children in school finish grammar grades; of those 
in high schools about 8% _ finish. 

Rural provision for education very inadequate in teachers 
and equipment. 

Regions where school attendance is low show the highest 
degree of illiteracy—The Sociology of Human Behavior, by 
Daniel Harrison Kulp. Teachers’ College, Columbia University. 


12 


CHAPTER IV 


WHY CHRISTIAN EDUCATION? 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into education means: 
A thorough and scientific program of religious and sec- 
ular education designed to Christianize everyday life and 
conduct. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What are the aims of our church school? 

What are the aims of the church schools of our community? 

What are the aims of the public schools of our community? 

How can both make more of a contribution than in the past 
toward christianizing everyday life and conduct? 

Do we wish to introduce the teaching of religion in the public 
schools? Why? How? 

Do we wish to inaugurate week-day religious instruction 
through the churches? Why? How? 

What is meant by a scientific program of education, either 
for religious or other instruction? 

Do we need new methods in our church school in order to 
christianize everyday life and conduct? If so, what methods 
are available? 

How can we relate Christian teaching more closely to every- 
day life and conduct? 

(Other questions may be raised by the leader of the group.) 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 
Why “Christian”? 


In clear and burning words, so we must judge from the im- 
pressions produced by them even though we may never recover 
the identical phrasing of his teaching, Jesus broke with those 
who believed in the existence of a fixed and unchangeable 
system of rules for human conduct and substituted the moral 
ideal of a perpetual quest, lifted to the uppermost reaches by 
the dynamic of sympathy, of love. 


13 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


In doing so, he introduced into moral philosophy an im- 
perative . . . so revolutionary from the point of view of 
every established social order from that time to ours that, 
when it has not been perverted to fit temporary social needs, 
it has remained a force working against and not for the rigid 
maintenance of any fixed status in economic, social, or political 
relationships. No matter how firmly the doors are closed to 
innovations, the conception of morals as a quest provides a 
force that breaks through systems and rules — a force not 
always successful in finding a better adaptation of conduct to 
the demands of life, but always offering new opportunities for 
the exercise and growth of man’s highest gift — the power to 
explore and to change and grow under the impetus of love. 


Hence, the present revival of interest in this moral dynamic 
of Jesus—an interest shared by many who, because of the 
narrower implications of the term, cannot call themselves 
Christians—is not an accident but closely bound up with the 
philosophical tendencies of our time. These tendencies are 
substituting principles of natural law for those of permanency 
and stability; they duly recognize the influences of environ- 
ment, and also of breeding, upon occupations and cultures which 
in their turn give rise to religious and ethical systems which 
seem permanent only so long as the environmental conditions 
remain the same. Science and ethics, the search for the true 
and the search for the good, are joining forces in the discov- 
ery of a morality which, permanent only in its dynamic, is 
flexible enough to adapt itself to the evolving nature of the 
universe and of those particular aspects of it that directly 
aftect human conduct. : 


Thus, a new spirit is pervading also the educational theory 
of our time, a spirit so closely related to what has just been 
defined as central in the teaching of Jesus, insofar as we know 
of it, that it may almost be called a revival of essential Chris- 
tianity—namely, a revolt against hard systems of knowledge 
that must be implanted in the young, against rules that must be 
followed no matter where they lead or how much insistence 
upon them may destroy of originality in thought and feeling, 
against the whole notion that wisdom is something which, 
with the aid of schools, the older generation may hand on to 
the younger one.—The Inquiry, October, 1925. 


14 


WHY CHRISTIAN EDUCATION? 


Pestalozzi’s Education as Unfolding from Within 


Sound education stands before me symbolized by a tree 
planted near fertilizing waters. A little seed, which contains 
the design of the tree, its form and proportions, is placed in 
the soil. See how it germinates and expands into trunk, 
branches, leaves, flowers and fruit! The whole tree is an un- 
interrupted chain of organic parts, the plan of which existed in 
its seed and root. Man is similar to the tree. In the new-born 
child are hidden those faculties which are to unfold during 
life. The individual and separate organs of his being form 
themselves gradually into unison and build up humanity in 
the image of God. . . . It is not the educator who puts new 
powers and faculties into man and imparts to him breath and 
life. He only takes care that no untoward influence shall dis- 
turb nature’s march of developments.—Pestalozzi, by Krusi. 
Wilson, Hinkle Co. 


Napoleon on Education 


It is impossible, indeed, to remain long in the present state 
of things, since everyone may now set up a shop for educa- 
tion as he would for broadcloth. . . . I feel called upon 
to organize a system of education for the new generation, 
such that both political and moral opinions may be duly regu- 
lated thereby.—Social Control, by Edward A. Ross. Reprinted 
by permission of the Macmillan Company. 


A Social .Theory of Religious Education, by George A. Coe. 
Charles Scribners’ Sons. 

‘The Curriculum of Religious Education, by W. C. Bower. 
Charles Scribners’ Sons. 


15 


CHAPTER V 


SAFEGUARDING THE HEALTH OF 
AMERICA 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into education means: 
Conservation of health, including instruction in sex hy- 
giene and home building, abundant and wholesome recre- 
ation facilities, and education for leisure, including a 
nation-wide system of adult education. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What progress has been made in our community in instruct- 
ing individuals in the promotion of their health? 

What agencies are promoting public health and what do they 
do? 

What still needs to be done? 

How have sanitary conditions been improved? What might 
be done to make these conditions better? 

How much and what kind of instruction in sex hygiene is 
being given in our church school? In other church schools? 
In the public schools? Through other agencies? How can we 
assist in bettering and spreading this instruction? 

How important is education for parenthood and home-build- 
ing as compared with the education for other functions? 
Where and how can one learn how to be a parent and build 
a home? What must be done in order to prepare people better 
for these functions? 

What are the pros and cons in the present day discussion 
about voluntary parenthood? What is our view in regard to 
the desirability of promoting voluntary parenthood? What is 
our responsibility as a church? As individual Christians? 

What are the recreational needs of our community? 

How may we help to meet those needs? 

What should be the purpose of education for leisure? How 
do we use our leisure time? How should our leisure time be 
divided so as to strengthen and deepen our personal lives and 


16 


SAFEGUARDING THE HEALTH OF AMERICA 


to build a better world social order? Do we need new dynamic 
and personal drive in order to make our leisure time count 
for more? How is leisure time abused by us in our community? 

Have all adults in our community equal opportunity for 
“continuing education”? What sort of instruction is being pro- 
vided for adults. Through what agencies? 

What would be an ideal program or “set-up” in our commu- 
nity? 

How can we and our church assist in this adult education? 

How may we deal with these matters in our religious educa- 
tion program? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 
What Are Some of the Things the Church Can Do? 


The church is in a peculiarly fortunate position in approach- 
ing the group of problems involved in sex and reproduction in 
that it has long led the public in its feelings and thinking about 
the higher goals of human life. In the fight to substitute a 
high and constructive use of sex for a limited and degraded 
use, the church should, through its pulpit and by its public 
utterances, arouse public opinion in support of all the kinds 
of constructive measures mentioned above. In the ministry of 
the pastor there are many private opportunities for him to 
interpret to married people who are not making the most of 
their lives, the fuller meaning of home and family relations and 
the means of attaining these values. ‘Through the church 
schools there is the opportunity to train parents in special 
_ classes so that they may bring the finest instruction and inter- 
pretation of sex to their own children. Similarly, the church 
school may aid young men and women in special classes to 
understand better the meaning of courtship, marriage, parent- 
hood, and homemaking, and thus prepare them better for their 
duties. The religious school, too, should form special classes 
in which adolescent boys or adolescent girls may have brought 
to their appreciative understanding the forces which are work- 
ing in their lives to make men and women of them, and thus 
enable them in these difficult years to adjust their growing sex 
consciousness to the problems and adjustments which confront 
them.—The Part of the Church in Social Hygiene, by Thomas 
Walton Galloway. American Social Hygiene Association. 


17 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Illth and the Prolongation of Life 


ji 


Extent and Costs of Disease in the United States. 


Et. 


Death rates for registration area, which includes 

85.3% of the total population in the United States 

per 1000 persons. 

1, In 1900—17.6; 1910--15¢ 1919—12.9- 1921-4 1y6e 
1922—11.8. 


Cost of illth. 

1. Illth of income-bringers of greatest social sig- 
nificance. 

a. Diseases affecting workers; tuberculosis af- 
fects 3% of industrial population or 1,250,000 
persons; pneumonia, influenza, and_ typhoid 
fever are most acute among adults; hook- 
worm affects 5% of the laboring population; 
malaria creates sub-standard health and eco- 
nomic incompetency; 60% of workers, 14,000,- 
000 people show focal infections. 

b. “Health span’—18-31 years: work span—20 
to 42 years. 

2: “Three million seriously ill at all times’—Irving 

“' Fisher; 42% is preventable which would add 15 
years to extension of life; sick rate at ages 35-44 
is nearly double that from 15-24 years. 

3. Fisher claims an annual economic loss from pre- 
ventable disease and death of $1,500,000,000; tu- 
berculosis alone costs $1,000,000,000; typhoid fever 
$135,000,000; hook-worm $250,000,000; malaria 
$100,000,000 annually. 

4. In 1922 the United States spent 1400 million dol- 
lars for cure and 60 million for prevention.— 
H. H. Moore: The Sociology of Human Behav- 
ior, by Daniel Harrison Kulp. ‘Teachers’ College, 
Columbia University. 


Four Girls in Court 


Four girls, 14, 16, 15, and 17, next on the calendar. 
They are high school students, “good” families. 
They are involved in a school scandal. One is’ discovered 


18 


SAFEGUARDING THE HEALTH OF AMERICA 


by her teacher to possess a notebook of dull obscenities, sex 
jokes . . . dull and witless stuff it is. 

‘The record seems clear. “They smoked, drank (when they 
could get it), rode home from dances in taxicabs, took all night 
joy rides, used .a great deal of paint and powder, swore at 
their parents . . . the girls were sophisticated, tired; any 
exertion, besides dancing, wore them out.” 

They were caught in one escapade, brought before the ju- 
venile court. 

Who is guilty? The boys? The girls? The school? The 
courts? 

“Sex is not sacred to them, or terrifying: it is merely fun.” 
: The court sends each to a socially minded physician, for 
after all their much knowledge is spurious. 

“The court, by probing, simple questions, tries to bring to 
them a sense of birth, child-rearing, nursing, illness, love, court- 
ship, self-sacrifice, discovery, struggle and happiness, parent- 
hood and death.’—Youth in Conflict, by Miriam Van Waters. 
Republic Publishing Company. 


Survey of Adult Education 


Frederick P. Keppel, president of the Carnegie Corporation, 
contributes to the Yale Review for April a résumé of the extent 
of the adult education movement in the United States and a 
critique of some of the evident tendencies. Dr. Keppel was 
formerly dean of Columbia College and has been at different 
times Assistant Secretary of War, director of foreign opera- 
tions of the American Red Cross and representative of the 
United States in the International Chamber of Commerce. He 
therefore writes out of an extensive experience in public affairs 
as well as in education. He presents results of a study of the 
adult* education movement made by the Carnegie Corporation. 

There are now five times as many adults pursuing some 
kind of supervised study as are registered in all the colleges 
and universities of the country. The students in commercial 
correspondence courses are the largest group. A million and a 
half new students register in these schools each year. ‘The 
typical student is a young man 26 years of age who has been 
in high school two years and who lives in a medium-sized city. 
More than a million persons attend public evening schools, 


19 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


part-time and continuation schools. These are young people 
of both sexes, with an average age of nineteen or twenty years. 
Ninety-two per cent of these students are under twenty-four 
years of age. “On the basis of their own statements, only 15 
per cent left school because of financial pressure. Most of 
them evidently left because they had lost interest. Their reason 
for returning is the realization that education pays.” 

There are now 150,000 in university extension classes. These 
are mainly women averaging thirty years of age. The Y. M. 
C. A. courses enroll 100,000 students. There are probably 
100,000 under other organizations. Workers’ education classes 
have an enrollment of 30,000. Less formal instruction in the 
form of lectures, chautauquas, agricultural extension, has been 
reaching a rapidly increasing number of persons. “Our 
trouble,” states Dr. Keppel, “is not that we have no adult 
education. Few realize how much of it we have, and how 
vital and vigorous much of it is.”—Information Service, Fed- 
eral Council of Churches. 


Health Education. A program for public schools and teacher 
training institutions. Report of the Joint Committee on 
Health Problems in Education, Thomas D. Wood, M.D., 
Chairman, 525 West 120th Street, New York. 

Progress of the Warfare against Disease, by Oscar H. Rogers. 
New York Life Insurance Company. Reprint of address 
at the eighteenth annual meeting of the Association of 
Life Insurance Presidents. 

National Health in the Life Insurance Mirror, by Robert Lynn 
Cox, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Reprint of 
an address at the fifteenth annual meeting of the Associa- 
tion of Life Insurance Presidents. ree 

Public Health in the United States, by H. Moore. Harper and 
Brothers. 

The National Health Series, published by the National Health 
Council. 


20 


CHAPTER VI 


SHALL WE HAVE FREE SPEECH? 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into education means: 
Insistence on constitutional rights and duties, including 
freedom of speech, of the press, and of peaceable as- 
semblage. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What are the constitutional provisions for freedom of speech, 
of press, and of peaceable assemblage? 

When have these provisions of the Constitution of the United 
States been nullified in our community? Elsewhere? How? 

Do we believe in the observance and enforcement of these 
constitutional provisions at all times? 

Is censorship of the press ever justifiable? When? 

Should every citizen have the right to say what he thinks is 
right or a good policy at any time? 

Should we be so free as to advocate through speech the 
breaking of a law, or should advocacy of law-breaking be 
punished or curbed? 

Who should determine when an assemblage is not “peace- 
able”? By what standards? 

Do the authorities of our community tend to limit public 
assemblage of unpopular groups and give freedom to others? 

(Other questions may be raised instead of these.) 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Denial of Civil Liberties 


“The Denial of Civil Liberties in the Coal Fields,” a pam- 
phlet by Winthrop D. Lane, issued in 1924 by the American 
Civil Liberties Union (100 Fifth Avenue, New York City) 
draws material from several important sources, including the 
following: the report on the denial of civil rights by the 
United States Coal Commission; the findings of the Committee 


21 


® 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


of Inquiry on Coal and Civil Liberties, established in response 
to the public invitation from the Coal Commission to supply 
facts concerning the violation of civil liberties, of which Pro- 
fessor Zachariah Chafee, Jr., of Harvard Law School was 
chairman; and the study of conditions in Logan and other 
counties in West Virginia made by Jerome Davis, then of 
Dartmouth College. 

Mr. Lane stresses the isolation and unusual conditions sur- 
rounding a mining town, apart as it usually is from other com- 
mercial and industrial endeavor, owned and regulated by the 
mining company, unique in its dependence on one kind of work 
and located in lonely valleys and on deserted mountain sides. 
He shows the power of leases as a means of control of the life 
of the miner outside of the mine by quotations from these 
documents. One used by a company in Somerset County, Penn- 
sylvania, provides that “the employe ‘shall not harbor or per- 
mit to use, occupy or otherwise be upon said premises, any 
person objectionable to the company . . . said employe shall 
upon notice and demand of the company remove any person 
therefrom objectionable to the company, and failing to do so 
the right of the said employe and his family to so use and 
occupy said premises shall thereupon immediately cease and 
terminate.’ ” 

In certain instances, canvassers and salesmen of whom the 
companies approve are given credentials by officials which 
permit them to canvass in the company town. Without such 
credentials no salesman may visit the families. It is a common 
practice to have privately paid deputies enforce company reg- 
ulations and proceed against any activities not approved by the 
companies. The number of deputy sheriffs paid for by various 
mining companies in Jefferson County, Alabama, alone totaled 
740 according to the affidavit sworn to by the sheriff of the 
county. Of these, 407 were provided by the Tennessee Coal, 
Iron and Railroad Company. 


The Right of the Minority to Speak 


If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only 
one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be 
no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he 
had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.—Ox 


22 


SHALL WE HAVE FREE SPEECH? 


Liberty, by John Stuart Mill. Parker. Quoted in Source Book 
in the Philosophy of Education, by William H. Kilpatrick, New 
York. The Macmillan Company, 1923. 


Limits to the Freedom of Speech 


There ought to exist the fullest liberty of professing and 
discussing, as a matter of ethical conviction, any doctrine, how- 
ever immoral it may be considered. . . . Instigation. . 
in a specific case, may be a proper subject of punishment, but 
only if an overt act has followed, and at least a probable con- 
nection can be established between the act and the instigation. 
—On Liberty, by John Stuart Mill. Parker. Quoted in Source 
Book in the Philosophy of Education, by William H. Kirk- 
patrick. Macmillan. 


My Opponent’s Case 


Paradoxical, as it may seem, if I am a sincere seeker for 
truth, I shall help my antagonist to put his cause in the utmost 
favorable light and cooperate with him in securing an opportu- 
nity for putting his theory to the test. I shall do this because 
I am convinced that his theory will not work, and that the 
sooner it is demonstrated that it will not work, under conditions 
which he himself chooses as being especially favorable for 
success, the better for my own position—Roswell C. McCrea in 


the Columbia University Quarterly. 


Free Speech in 1925 


Although the year was marked by numerous cases and issues 
in the field of civil liberty, the general condition continued to 
improve as it did in the previous year. There was less active 
intolerance and fear. Radical, racial, and religious minorities 
found it easier to live because of less interference. 

But this condition by no means indicates that intolerance 
and repression have so far declined as to be insignificant. It 
means, rather, that no serious conflict or minority activity has 
aroused the latent forces of repression. Widespread prosperity 
and the consequent absence of industrial strife account in large 
part for the improved condition. The efforts to impose ma- 
jority dogmas by law and intimidation have shifted from the 


23 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


industrial arena to the field of education. ‘That is the new 
battle ground. (From the Annual Report of The American 
Civil Liberties Union, N. Y.) 


Freedom of Speech, by Zachariah Chafee, Jr. Harcourt, Brace 
and Co. A standard work on laws and on data on free- 
dom of speech during and since the war. 

The Repression of Civil Liberties in the United States, by 
Harry F. Ward. American Civil Liberties Union. Reprint 
of paper read before the American Sociological Society, 
1923. 

The Labor Spy, by Sidney Howard. Republic Publishing Co. 

Civil War in West Virginia, by Winthrop D. Lane. B. W. 
Huebsch, Inc. 


24 


CHAPTER VII 


THE MARGINAL FOLKS 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into education means: 
Constructive education and Christian care of depend- 
ents, defectives and delinquents, in order to restore 
them to normal life whenever possible, with kindly seg- 
regation for those who are hopelessly feeble-minded. 
(This means that such institutions as the jails, prisons, 
and orphan asylums should be so conducted as to be 
genuine centers for education and health.) 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What “constructive education” is being given to those in 
jails and prisons in our locality? How should it be carried 
on? How may we assist? 

How do the method and expenditure for giving constructive 
education to dependents and defectives in order to restore them 
to normal life whenever possible compare with the constructive 
education of normal children? What can be done to better 
conditions? 

What would be involved in “kindly segregation” of those 
hopelessly feeble-minded? Should reproduction among the 
feeble-minded be prevented? 

What are the purposes of jails and prisons? By what 
methods do they restore prisoners to normal life when pos- 
sible? Could we restore them better by segregating individuals 
in special schools, workshops, farms, and playgrounds instead 
of prison walls? 

What is being done about juvenile delinquency in our commu- 
nity? Do we use scientific methods in dealing with it? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Deficiency and Insanity 


Feeblemindedness: 
The nature of mental defect. 


25 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


The idiot has a “mental age” of one to two years; the 
imbecile two to seven years; the moron eight years to 
normal. 
Extent of mental deficiency: 
Two per cent of the population. 

About one to every 230 of the population. 
Not more than 10% of offenders are feebleminded but the 
cost much in 

Crime 

Illegitmacy 

Prostitution 
- Disease 

Pauperism 

Drunkenness and degeneracy. 

The better present policies for care and treatment of de- 
fectives: 
For idiots and imbeciles—institutions and colonies. 
Segregation of adult females during child bearing age, as 
in Pennsylvania. 
Experience has demonstrated the possibility of reconstruc- 
tion for independent and satisfactory living in cases of 
defectives. 
Extent of insanity in the United States: 
In 1910 about one to every 500 persons. 
Claimed to be increasing. 
More people live to the age when mental disease sets in. 
Cure for many is possible—64+% were insane for less 
than a year. 
Extent of blindness: 
Approximately 70,000, one to very 1,605 persons. 
High among Negroes and foreign born.—The Sociology of 
Human Behavior, by Daniel Harrison Kulp, Teachers’ College, 
Columbia University. 


Delinquency: 
I. The Nature and Extent of Juvenile Delinquency in the 
United States. 
A. Types of “juvenile delinquency” or maladjusted chil- 
dren demanding special attention. 
1. The mentally defective children. 


26 


THE MARGINAL FOLKS 


a. Constitute from 1-3 to 1-10 of those coming 
into the juvenile courts. 


2. Children of immigrants who commit property dam- 
age. 

3. Protestants against uninteresting life—those who 
steal, lie, run away, commit sex offenses, truancy. 

4, Children whose personalities are badly warped. 

5. Psychopathic children who commit violence against 
persons. 

6. Children seduced and misled by adults or com- 
panions. 

7. Unmarried child mothers. .. . 

B. The extent and increase of needy children. In New 

York. . 

1. 75% of prisoners in Sing Sing were under 21 
years of age—80% of crimes committed by boys. 

2. 7-10% of boys reaching the age of ten have court 
records. 

3. Most cases are children of foreign-born. 

4. In 1910-1911, 115 institutions in the United States 


enrolled 51,387 persons, of whom 77.87% were 
males and 22.2% were females. 


C. Causes of juvenile maladjustment. 
L 


ap ala: aged td 


9 


50% of cases in New York City due to play. 
a. Impulses and wishes that conflict with laws. 
Irritability—organic malfunctioning. 

Bad home conditions. 

Broken homes—40% of juvenile cases from such. 
Mental conflict—assimilation of divergent. values. 
Mental and emotional defects. 

Evil associates. 

Bad neighborhood and community conditions. 
Suggestive experiences——The Sociology of Human 


Behavior, by Daniel Harrison Kulp, Teachers’ College, Colum- 
bia University. 


Treatment of Criminals 


“Our legal procedure . . . wobbles between .a too tender 
treatment of criminality and a viciously drastic treatment of 
it. The vacillation can be remedied only as we can analyze 


2h bs 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


an act in the light of habits, and analyze habits in the light 
of education, environment, and prior acts. The dawn of truly 
scientific criminal law will come when each individual case is 
approached with something corresponding to the complete 
clinical record which every competent physician attempts to 
procure as a matter of course in dealing with his subjects.”— 
Human Nature and Conduct, by John Dewey. Henry Holt 
& Co. 


Extent and Cost of Crime in the United States 


A. In 1910 there were 112,881 persons in 2,823 penal in- 
stitutions; 105,362 males and 6,136 females; one to 
every 800 persons. 

B. About 250,000 criminals in the United States; approxi- 
mately a million persons are convicted each year for 
some offense; in 1915 there were 4,000,000 arrests, and 
1,800,000 convictions. 

C. Total financial cost a year estimated at $5,000,000,000, 
five times the direct cost of education; 84% of the 
total national income is spent on crime.—The Sociology 

of Human Behavior, by Daniel Harrison Kulp, Teachers’ Col- 
lege, Columbia University. 


Youth in Conflict, by Miriam Van Waters. Republic Publish- 
ing Company. 

Studies in Modern Crime, Annals of the American Academy 
of Political and Social Science, May, 1925. 

The Revolt of Modern Youth, by Ben B. Lindsey. Boni and 
Liveright. 

A Practical Program for Church Groups in Jail Work, by 
Charles N. Lathrop. The National Council of the Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church, Social Service Department. 

Wall Shadows, by Frank Tannenbaum. G. P. Putnam. 

Crucibles of Modern Crime, by Joseph F. Fishman. Cosmo- 
polis Press. 


CHAPTER VIII 


EDUCATING FOR PEACE 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into education means: 
A scientifically planned program of international edu- 
cation promoting peace and good will and exposing the 
evils of war, intoxicants, illiteracy and other social sins. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What do we understand “international education” to mean? 
What would be involved in a “scientifically planned program 
of international education?” 

How should a program of international education be set up? 

How would an international program of education affect our 
teaching of history? Other subjects? 

Does the religious education in our school assist in promot- 
ing internationalism? 

How may our religious education be made international ? 
‘How should we get our information about other countries ? 

By what method may we help to eliminate ‘nationalistic 
bias” from our religious and other education, and make it 
truly international ? 

How do people make up their “attitudes” or their “minds” 
on international questions? How do people ‘change their 
minds” on these questions? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 
War Emphasis in Histories 


A study of the emphasis on war in school histories has 
recently been made by the Association for Peace Education 
(Chicago). Three investigators, not connected with the Asso- 
ciation, were employed to make the study purely as a scientific 
problem without regard for the motives of the study or the 
use to be made of the data. Twenty-four widely used elemen- 
tary school text-books in American history and twenty-four 
volumes widely used as “supplementary readers” were chosen 
for the survey. . 


29 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


The conclusions reached were: “The average history text 

devotes a disproportionate amount of space to war... . The 
amount of space devoted to peace by both the texts and the 
supplementary readers is almost negligible. . . . There are 
practically no illustrations of distinctly peace topics. 
The war word content is on the whole nationalistic, biased, 
and, in many cases, famboyant. . . . Frequently the sectarian 
and the sectional views, and the prejudices of the authors are 
quite evident. The war illustrations as a rule picture only 
the glorified imaginings of the artists... . Very few his- 
tories even approach the real truth about war. . . . Histories 
pay little attention to the Edisons, the Horace Manns and the 
Franklins; they are too busy depicting the overdrawn exploits 
of the Lees, the Grants and the Nathan Hales. . . . Much of 
the supplementary reading material of an historical nature is 
neither history nor literature; it is untrue sentimentalism.” 


The Problem of International Ethics 


Most of the propaganda for better international relations has 
no effect whatever on the practice of governments in the opinion 
of L. P. Jacks, editor of Hibbert Journal, who discusses inter- 
national ethics in Foreign Affairs (New York). The present 
insistence of governments that no “sovereign rights” can be 
renounced seems to make international ethics impossible. Only 
a very low degree of morality can be reached by the “live and 
let live’ method, and even that is impossible unless everyone 
concerned is on an equal basis. Dr. Jacks believes that talk of 
the Christian spirit in international relations is lost unless 
those who advocate it are ready to answer affirmatively such 
questions as: “Do they realize that the introduction of the 
Christian spirit into international relations is impossible with- 
out the willingness of all nations to sacrifice their national in- 
terests for the sake of international interests of greater im- 
portance? Are they themselves willing that their own nation 
should ‘die to live’? Are they prepared to go to their govern- 
ment with that demand, or to fight the next election on that 
basis ?”—Information Service, Federal Council of »Churches. 


30 


EDUCATING FOR PEACE 
The Drug Problem 


America is confronted with a drug problem—how to stop 
the illicit sales of dangerous, habit-forming drugs, which are 
peddled and smuggled from one end of our country to the 
other. No state is exempt; there is no small town or big city 
in which this danger is not found. We have laws in plenty 
on our statute-books, laws prohibiting the sale of drugs except 
on a doctor’s prescription; but while these are well enforced, 
they are nevertheless unable to check the perpetual peddling and 
smuggling which goes on underground. While the police are 
constantly catching these petty peddlers, and the federal author- 
ities are frequently running to earth big gangs of smugglers, 
all this has but little effect on stopping the illicit traffic. For 
one gang caught, dozens operate unhindered. 

The young people of our country are the ones sought out by 
these peddlers, who first teach them the drug habit, and then 
instruct them as to the tricks and devices they may resort to in 
order to reach the underground channels of supply.—The 
Ethics of Opium, by Ellen N. La Motte. The Century Co. 


Difficulty of International Education 
When we compare the discussions in the United States Senate 
in regard to the League of Nations with the consideration of a 
broken-down car in a roadside garage the contrast is shocking. 
The rural mechanic thinks scientifically; his only aim is to avail 
himself of his knowledge of the nature and workings of the 
car, with a view to making it run once more. The senator, 
on the other hand, appears too often to have little idea of the 
nature and workings of nations, and he relies on rhetoric and 
appeals to vague fears and hopes or mere partisan animosity. 
_ The Senator will . . . unblushingly appeal to policies 
of a century back, suitable, mayhap, in their day, but now be- 
come a warning rather than a guide. The garage man, on the 
contrary, takes his mechanism as he finds it, and does not allow 
any mystic respect for the earlier forms of the gas engine to 
interfere with the needed adjustments—The Mind in the Mak- 
ing, by James Harvey Robinson. Harper and Brothers. 


31 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Unselfishness and the State 


Some good men seem inclined to maintain that the action of 
a state toward other states ought to be the same as the action 
of an individual toward other individuals. But this contains a 
fallacy which one might think it should not be difficult to dis- 
cern. We personify a state but a state is not a person. It con- 
tains a vast number of persons, and those who speak in its 
name and determine its policy act, not for themselves, but for 
others. It follows that all that department of morality which 
requires an individual to sacrifice himself to others, everything 
which falls under the heading of unselfishness, is inappropriate 
to the action of a state. No one has a right to be unselfish 
with other people’s interests. It is the business of every ruler 
to exact to the utmost every claim which can both justly and 
wisely be made on behalf of his country. He is in the position 
of a trustee of the interests of others and must be just and 
not generous.—Conservatism, by Hugh Cecil. Williams Nor- 
gate. Quoted in Source Book in the Philosophy of Education, 
by William H. Kirkpatrick. Macmillan. 


Military Training in Schools and Colleges of the United 
States, by Winthrop D. Lane. Committee on Military 
Training, 387 Bible House, Astor Place, New York. 

Military Training in American High Schools and Colleges: 
The Case For and Against, by William I. Hull. World 
Alliance for International Friendship Through the Churches. 

International Control of the Traffic in Opium. Foreign Policy 
Association. 

The Schools of the World and the League of Nations: a 1925 
Survey. Welsh Council of the League of Nations Union, 
Cardiff, Wales. 

Shall We Commit Suicide? by Winston D. Churchill. Pamphlet 
reprinted from Nash’s Pall Mall Magazine, September 24, 
1924. Obtainable from Commission on International Jus- 
tice and Goodwill, Federal Council of Churches, New York. 

World Friendship in the Church School, by John Leslie Lob- 
ingier. University of Chicago Press. Study Course. 

What Makes Up My Mind on International Questions? The 
Inquiry, 129 E. 52nd Street, New York City, 1926. Study 
outline. 

Christian Fellowship among the Nations, by Jerome Davis and 
Roy B. Chamberlin. Pilgrim Press. 


32 


BAR el) 


INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC 
RELATIONSHIPS 


Se 





CHAPTER IX 
RECIPROCITY OF SERVICE 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industrial and 
economic relationships means: A reciprocity of service 
—that group interests, whether of labor or capital, must 
always be integrated with the welfare of society as a 
whole, and that society in its turn must insure justice 
to each group. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What do we understand by “reciprocity of service”? 

How can we know when there is or is not “reciprocity of 
service’? 

How may “reciprocity of service’ on the part of economic 
groups be achieved in our community, in the nation and the 
world? ; made 

What outstanding instances are there of exploitation on the 
part of economic groups in our community? In the nation? 
In the world? 

How can we determine whether a group is unjustly treated 
in the matter of wages? What is a just or fair wage? Why? 

What is a just or fair reward for capital? For manage- 
ment? For employees? Why? 

If a large surplus accumulates in an industry, how should 
it be divided among the consumers, the owners, the manage- 
ment, the employees? 

Do these four groups have an equal claim upon a surplus 
that may be divided? If so, why? If not, why not? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Concentration and Control of Wealth 


The conclusion of Mr. R. H. Tawney that in an acquisitive 
society there is a tendency to create a class which lives without 
labor and to degrade those who do labor is verified by an ex- 
amination of the actual facts in the United States, t Shy CABS 


35 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Here we have an increasing congestion of wealth and power. 
We are told by Professor W. I. King that “two per cent of the 
population owns sixty per cent of the wealth,’ and that at the 
other end of the scale, “the poorest two-thirds of the people 
owns but a petty five or six per cent of the wealth.’—Wealth 
and Income, W. I. King. 

The Congressional investigation of the “Money Trust” in 1912 
brought out the fact that “one hundred and eighty men have a 
controlling influence over capital far in excess of one-fourth of 
the wealth of America.” (Quoted in N. L. Sims, Ultimate 
Democracy, p. 52 (1917).) Professor Sims tells us that “some 
1,600 directorships in 100 of the leading railway and other in- 
dustrial and money corporations are in the hands of 76 men. 
One man is on the board of 45 railroad companies.” (Sims Ibid, 
p. 51.)—Jndustrial Facts, by Kirby Page. Doran. 


The Hazards of the Employer 


From an ethical point of view the employer is perhaps harder 
hit in industry than the worker. ‘That is to say, he has. to 
face most contradictory situations. Take for example, the em- 
ployer who professes allegiance to Christian standards of con- 
duct, who believes in the Golden Rule and the ideal of service 
and “stewardship.” How can he live up to all these ideals 
and still build up his business on a margin so small that his 
employees have to live on less than even a conservatively 
estimated living wage? 

A recent analysis of this problem, given by a well-known em- 
ployer, is very illuminating in that it shows the ethical pre- 
dicament in which a man with professed high ideals may find 
himself. Surely we shall make little headway in quest of the 
Christian ideal save as we take account of such actual situa- 
tions and practical necessities as are here disclosed. This em- 
ployer asked the question, “What is my duty as an employer 
of labor?” And he answered it in brief thus: “I must employ 
my men under good, wholesome conditions of work, and I must 
pay them just wages—but no more.” Then he asked the 
question, ‘‘What is my duty to my employees as a man?” And 
in answer to it he reasoned thus: “If a workman has received 
just wages, has had everything from me that my duty as an 
employer dictates, and is still in need and comes-to me as a 


36 


RECIPROCITY OF SERVICE 


man for assistance, then as a brother, I must be generous with 
him. The two relationships are entirely separate and must 
not be confused.” Now, the interesting thing about this analy- 
sis is that it is inevitable unless one questions the moral quality 


‘of the existing system of relationships. If “just” wages are 


determined by a law that has no reference to brotherhood, if 
corporate relations are one thing and personal relations an- 
other, then one need not be concerned about Christian ideals 
for industry. On that supposition one learns from economics 
how to be a good employer, and from ethics and religion how 
to be a good man. Whatever may be said of this dualism, no 
justification can be found for it in the New Testament.—Re- 


printed from Christian Ideals in Industry, by F. Ernest John- 


son and Arthur E. Holt. Copyright, 1924, by F..Ernest Johnson 
by permission of the Methodist Book Concern. | 


! 


The Responsibility of Labor 


Organized labor in America is faced by an unusual opportu- 
nity. The liberal policy toward labor organizations which was 
adopted during the war under the patronage of the govern- 
ment was all but obscured during the depression period, but 
it is probable that in a fair test the public will support the 
right of labor, uncoerced and uncoercing, to organize on a 
trade union basis and to bargain collectively through appointed 
representatives for the improvement of its own conditions. It 
thus becomes more and more incumbent upon labor to make an 
earnest effort to introduce social ideals into industry. 

The labor movement has a history of important achievement 
and of patriotic service. It promises to be greater in the future 
than in the past. But the public will increasingly insist, and 
the teachings of religion require, that in undertaking to serve 
the workers organized labor should serve the whole people. In 
no other way can the interest of labor itself be permanently 
advanced.—Labor Sunday Message for 1923 of the Social 
Service Commission of the Federal Council of Churches. 


One Attitude Toward Labor 


An ideal location (for a silk mill) would be one in which 
labor is abundant, intelligent, skilled, and cheap; where there 
were no labor unions and strikes; where the laws of the state 


37 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


made no restrictions as to the hours of work or age of workers; 
where people were accustomed to mill life; and where there 
were no other textile mills in the vicinity to share in the labor 
and bid up its price. . . . —An editorial in the silk man- 
ufacturers’ official journal, quoted in the American Journal of 
Sociology, 22:169, September, 1916. 


The Economic Order: What Is It? What Is It Worth? by 
John H. Gray. Doran. 

Industrial Unrest: A Way Out, by B. Seebohm Rountree. Doran. 

The Church and Industrial Reconstruction, by the Committee 
on the War and the Religious Outlook. Association Press. 

Christianity and Economic Problems. A discussion group text- 
book, edited by Kirby Page. Association Press. 

The Social Principles of Jesus, by Walter Rauschenbusch. As- 
sociation Press. 

Coal, by Edward T. Devine. American Review Service Press. 

The Coming of Coal, by Robert Bruére. Association Press. 

The Social Task of the Church as Set Forth by the Lambeth 
Conference of 1920. The National Council of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church. 

Facing the Crisis, by Sherwood Eddy. Doran. 

The Church and Industrial Relations, edited by John A. Ryan 
and F. Ernest Johnson. Annals of the American Academy 
of Political and Social Science, September, 1922. 


38 


CHAPTER TA 


PROPERTY — ITS RIGHTS AND DUTIES 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industry and eco- 
nomic relationships.means: A frank abandonment of all 
efforts to secure something for nothing, and recognition 
that all ownership is a social trust involving Christian 
administration for the good of all and that the unlim- 
ited exercise of the right of private ownership is socially 
undesirable. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What do we understand by “securing something for noth- 
ing’? 

How can we determine when we get “something for noth- 
ing’? 

In our experience have we secured “something for nothing”? 
What things? | 

If a man bought a house in our community for $5000 and sold 
it two months later for $6000, would he be receiving ‘“‘some- 
thing for nothing? Who contributed to him the $1000? How 
much of it has he earned? Should society give him what, if 
any, he had not earned? How might our economic order be 
planned so that individuals might not receive unearned incre- 
ments? 

What about a man who bought a house in our community 
for $5000 and several months later sold it for $4000? | 

Is “buying low and selling high” the policy for us to follow? 

What could we as individuals do to change the practices of 
“buying low and selling high” ? 

If a man inherits $50,000 is he getting “something for noth- 
ing”? 

If a man receives an income from owning property and lives 
in idleness, does he get something for nothing ? 

What must we do with our property in order to administer 
it “for the good of all”? 


32 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


What kind of investment should we make in order to be sure 
our money will be used “for the good of all’? 


What standards for investment have we at present? 


Should Christians endeavor to work out distinctive standards 
of investment in terms of the way of Jesus? Was Jesus an 
investor? Can we get help from his example? From his 
spiritual attitude? 


In what situations should we abandon all efforts to secure 
something for nothing? Are there situations in which we 
should not at present abandon those efforts? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


The Surplus for the Common Good 


The labor party has no belief in any of the problems of the 
world being solved by good will alone. Good will without 
knowledge is warmth without light. Especially in all the com- 
plexities of politics, in the still undeveloped science of society, 
the labor party stands for increased study, for the scientific 
investigation of each succeeding problem, for the deliberate 
organization of research, and for a much more rapid dis- 
semination among the whole people of all the science that 
exists. And it is perhaps especially the labor party that has 
the duty of placing this advancement of science in the fore- 
front of its political program. What the labor party stands for 
in all fields of life is, essentially, democratic cooperation; and 
cooperation involves a common purpose which can be agreed 
to; a common plan which can be explained and discussed, and 
such a measure of success in adaptation of means to ends as will 
ensure a common satisfaction. An autocratic sultan may govern 
without science if his whim is law. A plutocratic party may 
choose to ignore science, if it is heedless whether its pretended 
solutions of social problems that may win political triumphs 
ultimately succeed or fail. But no labor party can hope to 
maintain its position unless its proposals are, in fact, the out- 
come of the best political science of its time; or to fulfil its 
purpose unless that science is continually wresting new fields 
from human ignorance.——Report of the British Labor Party, 
1918. 


40 


PROPERTY—ITS RIGHTS AND DUTIES 
Property Right and Use Right 


A distinction between property rights and human rights is 
one of the commonest features of current writings on social 
theory. It is coming to be well recognized, however, that some 
of the most fundamental human rights are property rights, and 
that the distinction frequently emphasized needs sharper defini- 
tion. Help in this direction is given by a concrete instance 
presented by Arthur E. Holt in an article on “Our Pagan Idea 
of Property” in the Christian Century for May 8, 1924. The 
concise statement can hardly be abbreviated: “The irrigated 
communities of the West are gradually building up a body of 
law and a profitable experience in making available for the 
use of the people the water resources of the great arid states. 
The early settlers who first caused the great American desert 
to blossom as the rose faced a new situation. ‘There. was no 
body of law governing property rights in water which laid an 
adequate basis for the communities which must be built up by 
irrigation. The only law available was the old English law 
which said that the water in a river belonged to the man who 
owned the bank of a river. This was manifestly an impossible 
point of view when the men who wished to deflect water from 
the river owned farms from ten to twenty miles away. Con- 
flict necessarily arose between these men and the men who 
owned the banks of the river and therefore claimed the water 
in the stream. ‘The controversy was taken to the courts. The 
judges saw that the old laws which had come down from Eng- 
land were entirely inadequate. They appealed to the law of 
the common welfare and set aside the English law as entirely 
inadequate. Gradually the courts and legislatures of the 
western states have built.up a system of law organized around 
certain great principles which may be summarized as follows: 

“The waters in the rivers of these states which are available 
for irrigation purposes belong to the state and are a public 
resource. 

“The right to build irrigation systems shall be granted to 
private and semi-public corporations who shall be allowed to 
deflect the waters in these streams upon the land. These cor- 
porations cannot own the water but they can own the right 
to use the water. 

“In determining who shall have the right to use the water 


41 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


preference is given first to those who first filed their applica- 
tion for its use. Prior appropriation is a word to conjure by in 
irrigated territory. 

“No corporation, public or private, has the right to any water 
for which it cannot show a beneficial use. Property right is 
subordinate to use right. You cannot own water in the state 
of Colorado unless you can show a use right for it. This one 
law forever stands between the people and a great monopolistic 
system built up on the power of a few to make the resources 
of the state scarce and expensive to those who have to live by 
them.” 


Christian Standards of Investment 


A study of the Christian use of wealth was presented at 
the Manchester, England, regional Copec conference in 1925, 
according to the Christian Science Monitor for August 6. 
Among the suggestions considered by the group making the 
study were a committee to recommend investments which 
would meet Christian standards, the creation of a public utility 
society, the foundation of a Copec trust “which would guaran- 
tee that the money invested in it would be well spent,” etc. 
The group felt that none of these recommendations could be 
carried out without a Copec bank in order to “Christianize 
credit.” If such a bank were to be established it would be 
necessary to observe four main principles: greater publicity for 
accounts; restriction of profits; control of the bank’s policy by 
the shareholders; public oversight of officials.—I formation 
Service, Federal Council of Churches. 


Usury As It Is Practiced 


A frank account of “the usury game” appears in The Mag- 
azine of Wall Street for March 27, 1926. “It makes no differ- 
ence,’ says the writer, “that 43 out of our 48 states have appar- 
ently stringent usury laws. It makes no difference what the 
rate of money is in Wall Street. Year in and year out, a 
great multitude of small business men, temporarily in a disad- 
vantageous position, pay an appalling toll to the money lender.” 

Of the methods by which usury is exacted the writer says: 
“The most common form of usury is for a borrower, having an 
excellent line with a bank, to lend out the sums it has loaned 


42 


PROPERTY—ITS RIGHTS AND DUTIES 


him at 7 per cent at higher rates of interest to less fortunate 
men. The medium in New York City may be a lawyer who 
sometimes spends less of his time at law than at amateur financ- 
ing. This type of lawyer is ideal for this purpose because he 
knows fully the distresses of some of his clients and the pros- 
perity of others. Here, circumstance marks him out as a 
natural broker.” 


The Tragedy of Waste, by Stuart Chase. Macmillan. 

Mr. Chase presents his indictment of our economic orga- 
nization against the background of war time industrial efh- 
ciency. With 13,500,000 of our 40,000,000 potential workers 
“turned into warriors’—zi.e., either in fighting units or in pro- 
duction of war supplies—the index of physical production rose 
from 112 in 1915 to 125 in 1918 (the period 1911-13 taken as 
a base at 100). This achievement aroused high hopes of 
permanent gains in efficiency but all ideas of “reconstruction” 
were soon forgotten. The great lesson was never really learned. 

Four main channels of waste are indicated: (1) production 
of unserviceable goods—harmful drugs, “super luxuries,” quack- 
ery, etc.; (2) unemployment in its various forms; (3) loss and 
leakage in the processes of production and distribution—over- 
equipment, duplication of services, restriction of output, faulty 
plant management, lack of cost accounting and research, etc. ; 
(4) destruction of natural resources—coal, water power, oil, 
timber and the rest. 


The Profit Motive, by Harry F. Ward. The League for Indus- 
trial Democracy. 

The Christian Doctrine of Property, by John A. Ryan. The 
Paulist Press. Pamphlet reprinted from the Quarterly Bul- 
letin of the Meadville Theological School, April, 1922. 

Property, Its Duties and Rights, by Bishop Charles Gore and 
others. Macmillan. : 

Property from a Christian Standpoint, by Richmond Dean. 
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social 
Science, September, 1922. 

An Employer’s View of Property, by Henry S. Dennison. An- 
nals of the American Academy of Political and Social 
Science, September, 1922. 

Profits, Wages and Prices, by David Friday. Harcourt, Brace 
and Company. 

The Control of Wages, by Walton Hamilton and S. May. 
Doran. 

The Ethics of Capitalism, by Judson Rosebush. Association 
Press. 


43 


CHAPTER XI 


CHILDREN WHO TOIL 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industrial and 
economic relationships means: Abolishing child labor 
and establishing standards for the employment of minors 
which will ensure maximum physical, intellectual, and 
moral development. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


How do we define child labor? 

Are there differences between healthful work which contrib- 
utes to the education of children, and “child labor”? What 
are the differences? 

Have we observed or experienced harmful child labor? In 
what forms? In what industries? 

Do we believe that child labor should be abolished? How? 

Do we believe that state laws should be enacted to abolish 
child labor? 

What arguments have been advanced pro and con on the 
proposed amendment to the Constitution giving Congress power 
to regulate the employment of young persons? Do we believe 
that child labor should be controlled by national laws? 

Why do labor unions generally favor the regulation of child 
labor? 

Do our observations and experiences indicate that harmful 
employment of children on farms exists? How can we deal 
with harmful employment by parents of children on the farms? 

Would it be better for a church to preach and teach rev- 
erence for childhood rather than to work for laws to regulate 
child labor? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Harmful Industries 


The man of the street smiles contemptuously at the idea of 
newspaper selling harming any healthy boy. The fact is that 


44 


CHILDREN WHO TOIL 


newspaper selling is one of the largest contributing causes 
te delinquency among city boys, and for the sake of producing 
half a dozen exceptions who rise from newsboy to publisher, 
it is a chance too remote to take in behalf of handicapped boys. 

Cruel as is physical waste of youth in textile industries, mills, 
foundries, factories, canneries, fruit, cotton, beet fields and the 
like, the writer is of the opinion that boys and girls suffer less 
permanent damage to character in industries which are pro- 
ductive, that is to say, where they can deal with processes of 
production, than in “service” industries such as “soda jerks,” 
messenger, telephone operator, theatre-ushering, beauty-shop at- 
tendants, dance-hall instructors, waitresses, sales-ladies, cham- 
ber-maids, bell-boys, and “entertainers.” In these latter pur- 
suits it is mainly youth, beauty, charm, and vivacity which 
sell their service—Youth in Conflict, by Miriam Van Waters. 
Republic Publishing Company. 


How Many Children in the United States Are at Work? 


In the United States in 1920 over one million (1,060,858) 
children 10 to 15 years of age, inclusive, were reported by 
census enumerators as “engaged in gainful occupations.” This 
number was approximately one-twelfth of the total number 
(12,502,582) of children of that age in the entire country. The 
number of child workers 10 to 13 years of age, inclusive, was 
378,063. The census does not report the number of working 
children under 10 years of age, but it is known that such chil- 
dren are employed in large numbers in agriculture, and in 
smaller numbers in many other occupations such as street 
trading, domestic service, and industrial home work.—Child 
Labor in the United States, Bureau Publication No. 114 by U. 
S. Department of Labor, Children’s Bureau. 


In What Occupations Are Children Engaged? 

Of the child workers 10 to 15 years of age, inclusive, in the 
United States in 1920, 647,309, or 61 per cent, were reported 
to be employed in agricultural pursuits, the majority (88 per 
cent) of them as laborers on the home farm. An even larger 
proportion, 87 per cent of the working children 10 to 13 years 
of age, inclusive, were at work in these occupations. ‘There 
were 185,337 children, or 17.5 per cent of the total number 


45 


THE: CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


of working children under 16, employed in manufacturing and 
mechanical industries—cotton, silk, and woolen mills; cigar, 
clothing, and furniture factories; and canneries and workshops. 
Over 80,000 children were engaged in some type of clerical 
occupation; approximately 63,000 were in trade; 54,000, the 
majority of them were girls, were working at occupations class- 
‘ified under “domestic and personal service’; and 7,191—almost 
all of them boys—were employed in the extraction of min- 
erals. Almost 25,000 children 10 to 13 years of age were re- 
ported as employed in trade and clerical occupations, over 
12,000 in “domestic and personal service’ and almost 10,000 
in manufacturing occupations—Child Labor in the United 
States, Bureau Publication No. 114 by U. S. Department of 
Labor, Children’s Bureau. 


Controversies Over the Children’s Amendment. Information 
Service of the Federal Council of Churches, Nov. 8, 1924. 

Research Information on Essential Aspects of the Child Labor 
Amendment. The Commission on the Church and Social 
Service, Federal Council of Churches, 1924. 

The Present Legal Status of Child Labor in the United States. 
Children’s Bureau, U. S. Dept. of Labor, Publication No. 
193, Fourth Edition, September, 1924. 

Child Labor. Outlines of Study. Children’s Bureau, U. S. 
Dept. of Labor, Publication No. 193, September, 1924. 

A Twentieth Amendment? Information Service of the Federal 
Council of Churches, December 20, 1924. A summary of 
New York World’s brief in opposition to the amendment. 

Millstones. Issued by the Council of Women for Home Mis- 
sions, Federation of Women’s Boards of Foreign Missions 
of North America, National Board of the Y.W.C.A., 1925. 
Obtainable from any of these. 

Legal Regulation of the Employment of Minors 16 Years and 
Over, by Ella Arviller Merritt, Children’s Bureau. Sums 
up legislation as of July 1, 1924. 


46 


CHAPTER XII 


THE WORKING DAY 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industry and eco- 
nomic relationships means: Freedom from employment 
one day in seven, the eight-hour day as the present max- 
imum for all industrial workers. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What groups of people work seven days of the week in our 
community? 

How might they be given one day of rest in seven? 

What are the effects of seven day labor upon the church, 
social institutions, the home? 

Do we favor an eight-hour day as the maximum for all 
industrial workers? 

Is the trend toward longer or shorter days for industrial 
workers in our community? 

What are the social effects of the twelve-hour day for in- 
dustrial workers? 

Do we wish to create opinion in favor of a maximum eight- 
hour day for all industrial workers? How can this be done? 


Under what circumstances should there be a working day 
of less than eight hours? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Hours, 1925 


A summary of industrial and economic data covering certain 
industries for 1925 has been published by the National Indus- 
trial Conference Board of New York (Bulletin No. 16). . 
Hours of work per week as shown by the Board’s continuous 
surveys were as follows in November, 1925: 


47 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Hours of Work 


Per Week 

Agricultural: implements. c5), ck. tee eee ee 50.5 
AUOTNODI Ly 's iss ole Mea oes rom aete a oe eee ae 46.8 
Boot: and iishoes .4. oat a wes skaees eo eece ist na oa 44.5 
Chemicals -):2.,§ funds shri an thiee tos 6 Mia Se Roi cil aon cura 53.5 
Cottona-N Orth ees oy ac eee aie. 2 ste ha eae energie een 46.7 
Cotton—-South es VIG, Cee Se care Ora, eee 49.7 
Electrical, manufacturing *% °° GRA. Pee 47.5 
Furnitared and sas ee), se oe ie. IR ee eee 48.2 
Hosiery. .and, knit, goods axivaut.si ae tall eae 46.1 
Tron? andwstéelia ce ascites £5 ote ease ea a ee 54.7 
Leather Tanning ita. gicn cet dsbccin eas oe at on ea 48.8 
Lumber. and “mill work. ours eateiqasn + am © 0a Cee 49.6 
Meatpacking © Crs ehiias var. aap kei a) sie oa ee ee 51.0 
Paint "ANds Varnisitey se slcuc'e ¢dc04 beeen cane elena 50.9 
Raper’ and ipulp) cc iean Os afisk sce eee oie ie reels eee | 
Paper @prodticts7),. 10220. /7 OF. Sha. es Pe eee 46.4 
Printing—-Book« and: jobi’ suisssnatht) ro eR ye ee, 47.5 
Printing—News and magazines ..............+4:. 45.7 
R&bbere eu EPs aaa ae 8 Pah oi Arete teeta (one ara 43.3 
TT eagle My AD ae a erat ie halal yee lg. 47.4 
WW OLE ya eta ol Spere sioie ous Bisa peeach oy © paleuk win itit ie mri aeiae aera 45.1 
Foundry and machine shop products ...........-. 49.1 

Average i aA Beet OP area 48.5 


(The report tabulates these figures at two-month intervals for 
the year, but the seasonal changes were inconsiderable; the 
November figures are the latest.) 


Effects of the Twelve Hour Day 


Of course the main argument is not that of cost and produc- 
tion but of the man and of the home. A twelve-hour day 
means at least thirteen hours away from home. When the shift 
is one’ of eleven to thirteen or of ten and fourteen hours the 
absence is by that much increased on the longer shifts. 

The twelve-hour day may mean as much as fifteen hours 
from home back to home again. Men come to live in the mill. 
They are little more than acquainted with their families. The 
long day keeps them away from home during waking hours 


48 


THE WORKING DAY 


and sleep after the long night takes up the daylight time at 
home.—The Twelve Hour Day in the Steel Industry. Bulletin 
No. 3 issued by the Research Department of the Federal Council 
of Churches. 


Crude Oil: Its Human Cost. A Challenge to Christian Amer- 
ica, by Robert S. Lynd, reprint from the Survey Graphic 
(Done in Oil) November, 1922, obtainable from the De- 
partment of Research and Education, Federal Council of 
Churches, New York. 


49 


CHAPTER XIII 


SAFEGUARDING INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industry and eco- 
nomic relationships means: Providing safe and sanitary 
industrial conditions especially protecting women; ade- 
quate accident, sickness and unemployment insurance, 
together with suitable provision for old age. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


Are there industrial conditions in our community that cannot 
be described as ‘‘safe and sanitary’? 

Do women need special protection in industry, including 
special laws? 

Is there need of accident insurance among workers in our 
locality and state? If so, how should this be secured ? 

Is there need of sickness insurance among workers in our 
locality and state? If so, how should this be secured ? 

Is there need of unemployment insurance in our locality and 
state? If so, how should this be secured? 

What is “suitable provision” for old age? How should we 
secure provision for all? 7 

What experiences of other countries should provide lessons 
for us in considering other questions? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Pros and Cons on Protection of Women in Industry 


The question of the desirability of protective laws for women 
in industry has been raised by the proposed amendment to the 
federal Constitution giving equal rights to men and women. 
This proposal, for which the Woman’s Party is agitating, would 
of course do away with all laws protecting women only. The 
different points of view on the question are clearly brought out 
in two articles in the February 15, 1925, issue of the Survey. 


50 


SAFEGUARDING INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 


In the first, Frances Perkins, chairman of the N. Y. State Indus- 
trial Board, states the case in favor of such legislation. These 
laws were first passed during the latter part of the nineteenth 
century when the evils of the conditions under which women 
were working were first realized. The laws have been main- 
tained because it was seen that, without such laws or if en- 
forcement were lax, conditions tended to go back to the old 
levels. Miss Perkins explains that this is because the majority 
of workers in every state are in small establishments where 
scientific management has not been greatly developed and trade 
unions are weak. 

Elizabeth Baker, instructor in economics at Barnard College, 
states the other side of the case. She explains that she is not 
a spokesman of the Woman’s Party. Miss Baker considers that 
there is not yet sufficient knowledge to determine whether work- 
ing women are benefited or “shackled” by protective legisla- 
tion. Those who object to such laws claim that under such 
restrictions women cannot secure desirable occupations since 
the men who are not restricted as to laws are preferred by 
employers. She considers that men need protection quite as 
much as women. Where women are in the majority in in- 
dustries protective laws are likely to benefit both men and 
women, but where women are in the minority protective laws 
are likely to cost them their jobs. 


Loss Due to Industrial Accidents 


The tremendous waste due to industrial accidents each year 
is illustrated by the statistics contained in the report of the 
Bureau of Workmen’s Compensation of the Pennsylvania De- 
partment of Labor. ‘These statistics are compiled from the 
records of the Bureau for January to September (inclusive), 
1924. During this nine months’ period 1,648 fatal and 132,084 
non-fatal accidents were reported to the Bureau. 

Treating the two branches of the coal industry as separate 
units, the largest number of non-fatal accidents in any single 
industrial group occurred in the metals and metal products 
with a total-of 36,057 for the nine months’ period. During this 
same period there occurred in this industry 202 fatal accidents. 
In anthracite coal mining for the period covered there were 
reported to the Bureau 22,703 non-fatal accidents and 393 fatal, 


51 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


while in bituminous mining there were 17,672 non-fatal and 300 
fatal accidents. ‘Transportation and public utilities rank next 
with 13,304 non-fatal and 281 fatal accidents reported to the 
Bureau during the nine months, while in building and con- 
tracting there were 11,595 non-fatal and 161 fatal accidents re- 
ported. The state total for all industries as recorded by the 
Bureau during the nine months’ period amounted to 132,084 
non-fatal and 1,648 fatal accidents. 

The greatest loss of time due to accidents reported to the 
Bureau occurred in anthracite coal mining with a total of 
2,758,703 days. During the same nine months, bituminous min- 
ing ranks second with a total of 2,224,992 days; transportation 
third, with a total of 2,009,009 days; and metals and metal 
products fourth with 1,997,875. For the first nine months of 
1924 in this one state alone there was a loss of 12,768,825 days 
due to accidents reported to the Workmen’s Compensation 
Bureau of the state. In recording accident data, actual numbers 
are given: in recording days lost, the statistics are weighted 
according to the scale of time losses for weighing industrial 
accident disabilities recommended by the International Associa- 
tion of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions.—Informa- 
tion Service, Federal Council of Churches. 


Legislative Provision for Aid to Mothers: 
Mother’ Pensions. 

1. Kansas gives between $15-$40 a month to a mother 
in need. 

2. Illinois gives to destitute widowed mothers of children 
under 14 years of age, up to a maximum of $60 a 
month.—The Sociology of Human Behavior, by Dan- 

iel Harrison Kulp, Teachers’ College, Columbia University. 


Industrial Safety. Edited by Richard H. Lansburgh. Annals 
of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 
January, 1926. Forty-two articles on various aspects of 
industrial safety. 


52 


CHAPTER XIV 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industry and eco- 
nomic relationships means: An effective national system 
of public employment bureaus to make possible the 
proper distribution of the labor forces of America. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


Do we agree with the principle expressed in the statement? 

What experience have we that a better distribution of the 
nation’s labor supply is needed? 

What reliable information is there about supply of labor in 
our locality? 

What experience have we that industries in our community 
are “seasonal”? 

Should the community take special care of all seasonal labor? 

What provisions are made at present? 

What improvements should be made? 

How may we help? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Thorough Study of Unemployment 


“Averaging good and bad years, 10 to 12 per cent of all 
the workers in the United States (several millions of men and 
women) are out of work all of the time; widespread unem- 
ployment is now a constant phenomenon with far-reaching 
economic, social, psychological and moral bearings; in seeking 
work through certain types of commercial or fee-charging em- 
ployment bureaus—particularly those dealing with unskilled 
and casual labor—thousands of men and women are being 
exploited.” These are some of the facts brought out in a 
most important investigation of employment methods, needs, 
and agencies over a five-year period, published in 1924 by the 
Russell Sage Foundation. Tue study was made under the 


53 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


direction of Shelby M. Harrison, Director of the Department 
of Surveys and Exhibits. The figures of the survey represent 
the country’s experience during the last two decades, excluding 
the past year. 

The establishment of a free nation-wide public employment 
service, to be maintained by the states in cooperation with the 
federal and local governments, for the benefit of men, women, 
and juniors in all walks of life, is the chief recommendation of 
those in charge of the study. 


Unemployment Insurance Plan 


Unemployment insurance was a feature of the agreement 
executed in June, 1924, between the Cloth Hat and Cap Man- 
ufacturers Association and the Joint Council of New York 
representing the United Cloth Hat and Cap Makers of North 
America. This fund is to be maintained by weekly payments 
of 4 per cent of the payroll. The plan went into effect on 
the first of September, 1924. The agreement also provides 
that work shall not be required “for any firm, member of the 
Association, which will work for or supply to any manufacturer 
or jobber during the pendency of strikes called or conducted 
by the Union against the latter firm’; and further that the 
Union “reserves the right not to permit its workers to perform 
work for any member of the Association who does any work for 
firms or who sells goods to firms against whom the Union has 
declared a strike, or who sends goods to such firms, its prin- 
cipals, agents, factors or jobbers during the pendency of such 
a strike, and the calling of a strike by the Union against a 
member of the Association, to enforce the right hereby reserved, 
shall not be construed as a violation of this collective agree- 
ment.” 


Can Business Prevent Unemployment? by Ernest G. Draper, 
Sam A. Lewisohn, John R. Commons and Don D. Lescohier. 
Alfred A. Knopf. . 


Two business men and two well-known economists have 
here collaborated in producing what is perhaps the most prac- 
tical and suggestive discussion of the problem of unemploy- 
ment that has been published in recent years. The authors 
set out to show “that the amount of unemployment in any one 
business or industry is often the measure of inefficiency in that 


54 


UNEMPLOYMENT 


business or industry and that a reduction of unemployment is 
usually reflected in the balance sheet by an increase of net 
income.” Their discussion is addressed mainly to producers 
and industrialists and it emphasizes chiefly what business men 
themselves can do, although considerable space is given to 
public policies for the relief of unemployment and to unemploy- 
ment insurance. In a straightforward and popularly written 
narrative under the caption, “How Some of Us Have Met 
Unemployment,” a rather captivating account is given of. the 
efforts. of various business and industrial concerns to deal 
with unemployment by removing its cause rather than by min- 
istering to the social symptoms to which it gives rise. The 
control of unemployment, the authors insist, “is actually in the 
hands of the influential business executive and for it the busi- 
ness man is primarily responsible.” 


Cycles of Unemployment in the United States, by William A. 
Berridge. Houghton, Mifflin Company. 

Employment, Hours and Earnings in Prosperity and Depres- 
sion. United States 1920-1922, by William I. King. Na- 
tional Bureau of Economic Research. 


55 


CHAPTER XV 


A MINIMUM COMFORT WAGE 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industry and eco- 
nomic relationships means: That the first charge upon 
industry should be a minimum comfort wage and that 
all labor should give an honest day’s work for an honest 
day’s pay. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


Do we agree that the first charge upon industry should be a 
minimum comfort wage? 

How should this minimum comfort wage be determined? 

Should a minimum comfort wage ever be set by legislature? 

Should a minimum comfort wage be varied in accordance 
with the business concerned? Should it vary as the surplus of 
the industry varies? Should it be paid at such times when 
the industry operates at a loss? 

What do we mean by an honest day’s work? 

What do we mean by an honest day’s pay? 

Who should determine when there has been an honest day’s 
work for an honest day’s pay? How? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Low Wages 


Not only is it true that millions of our people are living in 
actual poverty, ‘a large proportion of our total population re- 
ceive an income insufficient to enable them to maintain a decent 
or comfortable standard of living. _ The figures are easily 
obtained from the income tax returns... .- The total number 
of . . . income tax returns for’1918 was 4,425,114.1 Of these 
only 2,908,176 received an annual income of $2,000, and only 
1,411,298 received an annual income of $3,000. If we multiply 





(1) Treasury Department, U. S. Internal Revenue Statistics of 
Income Compiled from the Returns for 1918, published in 1921. 


56 


A MINIMUM COMFORT WAGE 


these figures by five, the size of the average American family 
—father, mother and three children under fourteen—we dis- 
cover that less than 15 per cent of the families received a net 
income of $2,000 and less than 7 per cent received a net in- 
come of $3,000. These figures will appear all the more signif- 
icant when it is recalled that the average increase in cost of 
living in 1918 over 1914 was approximately 75 per cent. . 

The Final Report of the Commission on Industrial Relations 
states that “it is certain that at least one-third and_ possibly 
one-half of the families of wage earners employed in manufac- 
turing and mining earn in the course of the year less than 
enough to support them in anything like a comifoxsabhe and 
decent condition.’’? 

Women’s wages are [on the whole] less adequate. In the 
survey made by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics 
in 1919, of the 85,812 women employed in the 28 industries 
included in the survey, the average weekly wage was $13.54. 
Approximately 21 per cent received less than $11.00 per week, 
and approximately 15 per cent received less than $10.00 per 
week. A survey made by the Council of National Defence and 
Minnesota Bureau of Women and Children revealed that 
“17,459 women workers out of a total of 51,361, or 34.05 per 
cent, received less than a minimum subsistence wage.’ From 
the Tenth Biennial Report of the Department of Commissioner 
of Labor and Industrial Statistics of Louisiana, 1919-1920, we 
learn that of the 10,877 women employed in the department 
stores, offices and hotels investigated, 7,310, or 67 per cent, 
received less than $7 per week.—Reprinted from Industrial 
Facts, by Kirby Page, by permission of George H. Doran Com- 


pany. 


The Legal Minimum Wage 


The several States should enact laws providing for the 
establishment of wage rates that will be at least sufhcient for 
the decent maintenance of a family, in the case of all male 
adults, and adequate to the decent individual support of 
female workers. In the beginning the minimum wages for 
male workers should suffice only for the present needs of the 





(2) Senate Document No. 415, 64th Congress, August 23, 1915, 
im aa. 


57 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


family, but they should be gradually raised until they are 
adequate to future needs as well. That is, they should be 
ultimately high enough to make possible that amount of sav- 
ing which is necessary to protect the worker and his family 
against sickness, accidents, invalidity and old age.—The Cath- 
olic Bishops’ Program of Social Reconstruction, January, 1919. 


Recent Wage Data 


The International Labor Office published this year a report 
on Wage Changes in Various Countries 1914-1925 which deals 
with money wages and real wages and which furnishes service- 
able background for a study of wage movements. The report 
shows that in some countries money wages have shown a tend- 
ency toward stabilization since 1922 whereas in the United 
States there was an increase from 1922 to 1923, a decrease from 
1923 to 1924, and negligible change during 1925. Of course, 
data on real wages are more illuminating than on money wages 
and in this connection the report shows that real wages in the 
United States were somewhat higher in 1924 and 1925 than 
they were in 1922, at which time they approximated the 1914 
level. 

The cost of living index for the United States based on 1913 
average, according to the United States Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, stood at 177.9 as of December, 1925, the highest it 
has been since September, 1921, and exceeded only during 1919, 
1920, and early 1921.—Information Service of the Federal 
Council of Churches. 


The “Living Wage” 

Consider, for example, one of the foremost industrial stand- 
ards and ideals that we have been talking about during the 
last decade. What is the net result of our advocacy of the 
“living wage”? That this concept, merely as a slogan, was 
helpful in connection with the budget” method of determining 
wage issues cannot be questioned. Yet we are no more able 
now than we were at the end of the war to give definite con- 
tent to the term. In the nature of the case, this is inevitably 
true. The term “living wage” defines a continually receding 
goal; the enrichment of the worker’s life increases the mini- 
mum requisite for its support. But this is not all. The estab- 


58 


A MINIMUM COMFORT WAGE 


lishment of a minimum wage involves a careful scrutiny of 
the market. In practice, minimum wage commissions find it 
necessary to set the minimum so low that the majority of 
workers in the occupations covered by the award are -not 
affected by it—so difficult is it to apply an arbitrary principle 
within the field of modern aggressive industrial competition. 
There are industries that are permanently underpaid in which 
the fixing of a minimum comfort wage would put the product 
entirely off the market, unless it were possible to effect a com- 
plete readjustment of the consumer’s budget. . . . The only 
effectual approach to such a problem involves efficient con- 
tinuance of the industry, growing out of the realization of 
joint risks. The concept of a living wage can have no definite 
content without reference to the product and to the social 
efficiency as a joint enterprise——From the 1924 Report of the 
Committee on Ethical Forces in Advancing Standards in In- 
dustry of the National Conference of Social Work. 


Wages and the Family, by Paul H. Douglas. University of 
Chicago Press. 

A Living Wage, by John A. Ryan. Macmillan. Revised and 
abridged edition. 

The Control of Wages, by Walton Hamilton and S. May. 
Doran. 


59 


CHAPTER XVI 


INVESTIGATION—PUBLICITY— 
CONCILIATION—ARBITRATION 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industry and eco- 
nomic relationships means: Adequate provision for im- 
partial investigation and publicity, conciliation and arbi- 
tration in industrial disputes. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What serious industrial disputes have there recently been in 
our community or locality? 

What industrial disputes have within the past few years 
affected our locality? ; 

Was there provision for impartial investigation of these 
disputes? By whom? If not, should such provision be made 
in the future? Who should do the investigating ? 

Was it the policy of the parties in the dispute to allow im- 
partial publicity? Should this be done in the future? How 
can it be secured? 

What machinery exists in industries of our locality for con- 
ciliation and arbitration of industrial disputes? Should ma- 
chinery be set up? What experience is there in our locality 
or elsewhere which can be of assistance in setting it up? 
Should this be done by industries? If not, by whom? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Results of Arbitration 


One of the most illuminating contributions that have been 
‘ made to the philosophy of industrial relations is the article 
by Wm. M. Leiserson in the Atlantic Monthly for September, 
1925. Mr. Leiserson is chairman of the board of arbitration 
for the men’s clothing industry in Chicago. The article is made 
up of a collection of actual and typical cases that have arisen 
within his experience as an ‘impartial chairman.” Some of 


60 


INVES TIGA TION—PUBLICIT Y—CONCILIATION 


these cases involved disputes between employes; others, ques- 
tions of the workers’ efficiency, the introduction of new mate- 
rials or labor-saving devices, ete. 

When, for instance, English broadcloth, a silky all-cotton 
material was introduced for men’s shirts, the union decared that 
since this material was as difficult to handle as silk the wage 
rate should be that paid for silk. [The manufacturers finally 
admitted that such was the case and offered to pay the silk 
rate for pressing but not for operating. Situations like this 
are the more difficult to decide since there is no statute or 
common law or definite agreement between manufacturer and 
union on which decisions may rest. ‘There are, however, as 
Mr. Leiserson points: out, commonly accepted trade practices 
en which decision may be based. In this case it was found 
that materials classified as silk for pressing were uniformly 
in the trade so classified for operating. The manufacturers 
were ordered to pay the silk rate for work on the new material. 

In the case of a man discharged for incompetence it was 
found that while the man had been careless, the shop had been 
poorly managed. Since both the employe and employer were 
equally guilty it was found possible to penalize both by dis- 
charging the employe and ordering the employer to pay two 
weeks’ wages. 

Where steam machines were introduced for the final pressing 
of men’s coats the highly-skilled hand pressers stopped work 
though the employer had agreed to keep all the men at the 
wages they were then receiving. The men, however, felt that 
they would probably suffer either discharge or a reduction in 
wages when a new agreement should be made. Besides, the 
men felt that their skilled trade. was their property and that 
this was being taken from them. In this connection, Mr. Leiser- 
son points out that money invested is protected from similar 
losses by depreciation charges. Railways are protected from 
competing motor-bus lines, unless a real necessity for the bus 
lines can be shown. “It is well to remember that a workman 
has as much reason to fear the machinery that threatens 
the trade by which he earns a livelihood as the railroad or 
electric company has to fear motor-bus transportation.” 

Mr. Leiserson points out further that fair dealing and “an 
honest day’s work” are not sufficient answers to these questions 


“ 


61 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


for the real problem is to discover what honor, fairness and 
justice require in such cases. 

In conclusion, Mr. Leiserson says: “However bitter the con- 
flicts between employers and wage-earners, I have found it 
rare indeed that. anyone concerned in them consciously wanted 
to do the wrong or unjust thing. The conflicts came because 
it is so difficult to tell what is right in these industrial affairs. 

he standards by which employers, managers, wage-earners, 
investors, and consumers measure industrial justice are not 
the same. And until a common standard is attained none of 
us can be sure that he knows what is right and wrong in labor 
relations. But out of the hundreds of disputes decided every 
day in many of our industries, as the cases above were decided, 
a common standard of industrial justice is slowly being 
achieved.” 

This is the reason why students of modern industry so 
generally disapprove the clamping of arbitration upon industry 
by compulsion of the state—Information Service, Federal 
Council of Churches. 


The Need of Research 


The Conference on Christian Politics, Economics and Citizen- 
ship (commonly called C. O. P. E. C.), held in Birmingham, 
England, in April, 1924, declared: Much of the success of the 
work here recommended must depend upon the activity of a 
competent Research Department. We would not, of course, 
propose to duplicate research work that is being done already, 
but it is imperative that the leaders and guides of Christian 
thought should have always accessible on subjects of moment 
full and reliable knowledge of social facts and of the latest 
results of sociological thinking. There is also a distinctive 
sphere for a Research Department of the Churches. The sub- 
ject matter here would not be the social need and agency, which 
are the province of the scientist and the social reformer; it 
would rather be the ideas and inspirations, the proposals and 
experiments to which Christian people are being constantly 
led by their Christian faith, but which remain unknown to 
their fellow-Christians, and, because unknown and therefore 
unrevised in the light of wider Christian experience, are often 
comparatively unfruitful. No publication would be distinctive 


62 


INVESTIGA TION—PUBLICIT Y—CONCILIATION 


enough, no local crusade or public pronouncement would have 
the necessary combination of nascent moral energy and col- 
lective wisdom without an adequate background of distinctive 
research work. We would therefore commend: this provision 
for research work as the most essential element of all in the 
united organization of the future. To be adequate it must be 
continuous, and therefore adequately staffed with permanent 
officers, for no committee work can suffice without proper staff 
work to support it. 


63 


CHAPTER XVII 


THE RIGHT OF LABOR TO ORGANIZE 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industry and eco- 
nomic relationships means: The right of labor to organ- 
ize with representatives of its own choosing and, where 
able, to share in the management of industrial relations. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


Do we agree that labor should have the right to organize 
with representatives of its own choosing? Why? 

May an organization of workers within one company, started 
on the initiative of the management, allowing the workers to 
elect their officers, meet the requirements of the principles in 
the Statement of Social Faith? 

How would it differ from the ordinary trade union? 

Should an organization within one company have all the 
powers of a trade union in order fully to protect labor? 

What types of labor organizations are represented in our 
locality or affect our locality? Have we any instances of or- 
ganizations within one company? What trade unions? 

What have been our contacts and experiences with these or- 
ganizations? 

Have we any contact or experience in industries where labor 
shares in the management of industrial relations? 

What information have we about other localities that will 
be of assistance? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Labor Participation in Industrial Management 

It is to be hoped that this right [of organization by labor] 
will never again be called in question by any considerable 
number of employers. In addition to this, labor ought grad- 
ually to receive greater representation in what the English 
group of Quaker employers have called the “industrial” part 
of business management—“the control of processes and ma- 
chinery; nature of product; engagement and dismissal of em- 


64 


THE RIGHT OF LABOR TO ORGANIUVE 


ployees; hours of work, rates of pay; bonuses, etc.; welfare 
work; shop discipline; relations with trade unions.” The 
establishment of shop committees, working wherever possible 
with the trade union, is the method suggested by this group of 
employers for giving the employees the proper share of in- 
dustrial management. There can be no doubt that a frank 
adoption of these means and ends by employers would not 
only promote the welfare of the workers, but vastly improve 
the relations between them and their employers, and increase 
the efficiency and productiveness of each establishment.—T he 
Catholic Bishops’ Program of Social Reconstruction, 1919, 


Cooperation of Labor and Management 


Evidence that labor is ready to assume . . . responsibility 
for higher standards of industrial service is revealed in the 
experience of the last few years on the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad. It will be recalled that the president of the B. and 
O. led the way toward a settlement of the shopmen’s strike by 
promulgating what has come to be known as the Baltimore 
Agreement. Taking advantage of the return of peace and 
friendly relationships, the shop crafts, under the leadership 
of technical advisers, offered to assume joint responsibility 
for making the worst shop on the road—worst, i.e., with re- 
spect to production and discipline—a paying proposition. A 
remarkable degree of success has already been attained and 
the joint efforts of company and employes are now being ex- 
tended to other points on the system. 

A contract recently entered into provides for the stabiliza- 
tion of employment by utilizing the facilities of the Baltimore 
and Ohio to the fullest possible extent for the maintenance, re- 
building and remodeling of locomotives and car equipment as 
well as for the manufacture of supplies and material needed 
for mechanical and other purposes. It recognizes the pos- 
sibilities of constructive cooperation by the employes in mat- 
ters of shop operation and output and implies an equitable 
share between shopmen and the railroad in the benefits of co- 
operation. The plan provides for local joint committees at 
45 designated points on the railroad and for a joint system co- 
operative committee. The function of these committees is the 
discussion of questions relating to planning and carrying on 


65 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 
the work.—Information Service, Federal Council of Churches. 


Breakdown of Collective Bargaining 

During the recent meetings of the National Council of 
Evangelical Free Churches of England, a sociological con- 
ference was held, at which Professor Ramsay Muir spoke on 
relations between employers and employes. The substance of 
Professor Muir’s address is thus summarized in The Free 
Church Chronicle for April, 1926: “It seemed to him clear 
that the industrial system which existed in this country [Eng- 
land] was on the verge of a breakdown. By this he did not 
mean capitalism, but the system of collective bargaining under 
which two essential factors in production were arrayed in 
highly organized hostile armies against each other. The 
system might be brought to an end by means of a conflict which, 
whatever side wins, must mean ruin to the community. It 
might, on the other hand, be ended by the organization in its 
stead of an effective method of cooperation. If that came 
about, then we should in this generation be passing into a new 
stage in the age-long story of the development of the methods 
by which men had got to get the work of production done. In 
his opinion the crux of the controversy turned upon the just 
distribution of the results of that cooperation. The distribu- 
tion would have to be radiantly and obviously just before it 
would create peace.” 


Collective Bargaining, by Kirby Page. Doran. 

Modern Industrial Relations, by John Calder. Longmans Green 
cael O08 

The Question of Recognizing the Union. ‘The Inquiry. 

Industrial Relations and the Churches, edited by John A. 
Ryan and F. Ernest Johnson. Annals of the American 
Academy of Political and Social Science, September, 1922. 

Labor Policy of the United’States Steel Corporation, by Charles 
A. Gulick, Jr. Longmans Green & Co. 

The United States Steel Corporation, by Kirby Page. Doran. 

The Causes of Industrial Unrest, by John A. Fitch. Harper 
& Brothers. 

Employes’ Representation in Coal Mines, by Ben M. Selekman 
and Mary Van Kleeck. Russell Sage Foundation. 

Employes’ Representation in Steel Works, by Ben M. Selekman. 
Russell Sage Foundation. 

Sharing Management with the Workers, by Ben M. Selekman. 
Russell Sage Foundation. 

66 


CHAPTER XVIII 


THE RIGHT OF THE CONSUMER TO 
ORGANIZE 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industry and eco- 
nomic relationships means: Encouragement of the or- 
ganization of consumers’ cooperatives for the more 
equitable distribution of the essentials of life. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


How does a consumers’ cooperative society differ from a 
business corporation ? 

What are the purposes of consumers’ cooperative societies? 

What consumers’ cooperative societies have we had in our 
locality ? 

What have our contacts and experiences been with them? 

What factors in American life encourage and which hinder 
the organization of consumers’ cooperative societies? 

Do we believe that we should encourage them? 

What are the essentials of their success? 

What consequences may we expect if they are widely or- 
ganized? What benefits? What changes in the business life 
of the community? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


The Cooperative Movement 


The cooperative movement is an organization of 
consumers. ‘The purpose of the cooperative movement is to 
organize consumers so that through cooperative buying they 
may be able to avoid exploitation at the hands of manufacturers 
and distributors. It seeks . . . . to aid the consumer in pur- 
chasing direct from the manufacturer or grower, and to own its 
factories and acreage. 

- The cooperative movement now exists in almost all countries 
of the world. Dr. James Peter Warbasse tells us that “i 


in 
67 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Europe it now embraces one-third of the population, and carries 
on every form of useful industry; some of these are the largest 
of their kind. In some countries a majority of the people are 
included in the cooperative movement. The organized societies 
in each country are federated in the world movement through 
the International Cooperative Alliance.” 

In England especially the movement has assumed huge 
dimensions. There are now 1,467 societies, with 4,182,019 
members, with annual sales for the factories, wholesale and re- 
tail stores, of approximately $1,500,000,000 (£324,781,079), with 
a capital of approximately $450,000,000 (£98,801,231), with an 
annual net surplus of approximately $100,000,000 (£21,809,563) 
to be divided among the members, with 187,535 employees. 

From the British Labour Year Book of 1919 we learn that “the 
Wholesale Societies now own 17,519 acres of tea plantations in 
Ceylon and Southern India, and in 1917, the English C. W. S. 
bought 10,000 acres of wheat lands in Canada, concessions on 
the West Coast of Africa and in Nigeria; several farms at 
home, making it the owner of 12,400 acres in the counties of 
Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cambridge, Herefordshire, Cheshire, and 
Shropshire; it also acquired several textile mills, bought a 
colliery, and started a margarine works.” 

The movement in the United States has grown rapidly within 
recent years, especially among farmers and trade union mem- 
bers. There are now more than 3,000 cooperative stores in 
the United States. The idea behind the cooperative movement 
is fundamentally sound. Cooperative buying is certain to 
increase. This movement deserves careful study and earnest 
support. It has an important contribution to make.—Reprinted 
from Industrial Facts, by Kirby Page, by permission of George 
H. Doran Company. 


A Defense of Economic Cooperation 


Cedric Long, executive secretary of the Cooperative League, 
the educational organization of the consumers’ movement in 
the United States, has written a defense of economic coopera- 
tion which embodies some of the main points put forward by 
protagonists of the movement. Here are some of the points 
Mr. Long makes: “My thesis is merely this: that our most 
pressing underlying problems are economic problems; and that 


68 


THE RIGHT OF THE CONSUMER TO ORGANIZE 


the most fundamental, the soundest, the most universal solu- 
tion to the problems of production, distribution and credit is 
the cooperation solution. 

“It is an economic movement rather than a religion... . 
Some of us believe, however, that as it creates a better economic 
order and substitutes cooperative for competitive action be- 
tween men, the service for the profit motive, it will indirectly 
have a marked effect upon the social and intellectual (per- 
haps even the religious) life of mankind. . . 

“Cooperation claims as some of its chief merits: First, the 
fact of its universal economic appeal; second, its freedom from 


‘the coercive methods used by the socialistic or any other state; 


third, its progress according to evolutionary rather than 
revolutionary methods... . 

“We believe that the cooperative movement can ultimately 
separate the capitalist from his ill-gotten gain, the petty farmer 
from his arrogance, the labor militant from his cock-sureness ; 
and unite them all on the basis of their common needs... .” 


How Cooperatives Differ From Corporations 


The methods are summarized as follows by Dr. J. P. War- 
basse, president of the Cooperative League of the United 
States of America: 

1. Each member shall have one vote and no more. 

2. Capital invested in the society, if it receives interest, 
shall receive not more than a fixed percentage which shall be 
not more than the minimum prevalent rate. 

3. If a surplus-saving [‘‘profit”] accrues, by virtue of the 
difference between the net cost and the net selling price of 
commodities and service, after meeting expenses, paying in- 
terest [wages to capital] and setting aside reserve and other 
funds, the net surplus-saving shall be used for the good of the 
members, for beneficent social purposes, or shall be returned to 
the patrons as savings-returns [“dividends”] in proportion to 
their patronage.—Cooperative Democracy, by J. P. Warbasse. 
Reprinted by permission of the Macmillan Company. 


Publications of The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th Street, 
New York City. 


69 


CHAPTER XIX 


IS SERVICE AN INCENTIVE? 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into industry and eco- 
nomic relationships means: The supremacy of the serv- 
ice, rather than the profit motive in the acquisition and 
use of property on the part of both labor and capital, 
and the most equitable division of the product of indus- 
try that can be devised. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What is implied in the supremacy of the service over the 
profit motive in the working of investments? In the receiving 
of remuneration for work? In the paying of money for work 
performed? In other situations? (Select some situation in 
which a member of the group has found himself.) 

Do we need to revise the current standard of buying low 
and selling high? 

What do we need in the way of changes in our social 
organization in order to allow the service motive to flourish 
more fully than in the past? 

Will the service motive spread among individuals best by our 
preaching and teaching it or best by our changing rules and 
customs within industry? 

What principles should be observed in dividing the product 
of industry so as to be fair to the public, the owners, and the 
employees? E.g., considering the employees, should wages, in 
order to be fair, be the average in the industry, or above the 
average in the industry, or be sufhcient to meet a minimum 
standard of living, or include as much of the surplus as goes 
to the owners or what? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 
Whence Dynamic? 


Is spiritual dynamic for ethical ends something that is to 
be acquired and stored ready for use, or is it to be developed 


70 


IS SERVICE AN INCENTIVE? 


through actual ethical struggle and endeavor? Will it be dis- 
covered best by search for it as such, or is it to be found in 
the search for truth and right in the stress and strain of life? 
Will the passion of Jesus best be understood as an object of 
contemplation and of adoring worship, or as one comes to 
understand its meaning where life is actually in process? 

Who is competent to undertake the “radical task of analyz- 
ing the history of Protestant religious tradition in order that 
the cause of its’ social ineffectiveness may be discovered’? 
And granted that a true diagnosis were arrived at, what effect 
on individual or social attitudes, temper or ethical procedure, 
could be expected from it? Would it be more helpful to 
religious or social progress than a discovery by groups here 
and there as to how ethical ideals can really be brought to 
function in life problems and situations? 

Intellectually you hunt around until you find a perfect way 
of living. Then you ask, “How can I get enough energy to 
put it across?” This is the way in which, it is assumed, 
progress comes; a group finds a plan for meeting a problem 
and then looks around for reinforcements. 

But that is not actually the way. We are working on 
situations in which we are so concerned that we have got to 
find a way out. If you are not enough concerned to seek a 
way out, if your dynamic is not inherent in your process, 
then your process is worthless. . . . I have been in a number 
of groups where in this process people have found the deepest 
spiritual values. On those occasions we had the experience of 
a group of people who searched until they found something 
it was possible to work on. Out of the fellowship of that 
search came deep religious convictions. But we are not making 
this clear to ourselves. We get restless. We still look upon 
will power as something to be worked up in one way or 
another when really it is a strengthening of purpose, and the 
purpose comes out of the situation in which we want to do 
something. Dynamic, therefore is all tied up in that—The 
Inquiry, January, 1926. 


Are the Motives of Jesus Practicable? 


Let us . . . . raise the question: Are the motives of Jesus 
practicable in modern business and professional life? 


ye! 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


The self-denial and unselfish service of Jesus are not contrary 
to human nature. The task before us is not the changing of 
human nature but the creation of situations in which the more 
social tendencies may more easily be given expression. 

The task before us is not an impossible one. The motives 
of Jesus are natural to man at his best and can be applied in 
modern business and professional life. They must be applied 
if life is to be made tolerable for mankind. The difficulties in 
the way of their application are stupendous. Courage of a 
high order is demanded. And yet in other realms men are 
not dismayed by obstacles. Behind the desk of one of the 
great industrial leaders of the nation is a small electric sign 
which he illuminates at psychological moments. It reads: 
CAN’T MUST BE OVERCOME. 

This is the attitude pre-eminent for the Christian with re- 
gard to the obstacles which block the way to the application 
of the motives of Jesus in modern business and professional 
life. Can’t must be overcome.—Reprinted from Incentives in 
Modern Life, by Kirby Page, by permission of George H. 
Doran Company. 


The Acquisitive Society, by R. H. Tawney. Harcourt Brace 
& Co. 

Human Nature and Conduct, by John Dewey. Henry Holt & 
Co. 

The Profit Motive, by Harry F. Ward. League for Industrial 
Democracy. 

Incentives in the New Industrial Order, by J. A. Hobson. 

Thomas Seltzer. 

The Social Principles of Jesus, by Walter Rauschenbusch. 
Association Press. 

Christianity and Economic Problems, edited by Kirby Page. 
Association Press. 


rs 


PART III 
AGRICULTURE 





CHAPTER XX 


A FAIR REWARD FOR FARMING 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into agriculturé means: 
That the farmer shall have access to the land he works, 
on such terms as will ensure him personal freedom and 
economic encouragement, while society is amply pro- 
tected by efficient production and conservation of fer- 
tility. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


In our experience do farmers have access to land assuring 
them the same personal freedom and economic encouragement, 
as are reasonably to be expected by persons setting up other 
industries? 

What do the recent researches indicate as to the economic 
encouragement of agriculture as compared with other in- 
dustries? 

What are some of the chief causes of the economic handicaps 
of agriculture? 

What are some of the steps being taken to improve agricul- 
tural conditions? 

In our experience is it correct to say that in some sections 
of the country, the American farmer has been a miner of the 
soil, a robber of its fertility? What have been some of the 
factors which have led to this condition? 

Has the proportion of tenants on American farms been in- 
creasing or decreasing? Should ownership rather than ten- 
antry be encouraged? Why? How? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 
Statistics of Farmers’ Incomes 


Mr. L. H. Bean, of the Division of Statistical and Historical 
Research of the United States Department of Agriculture, sums 
up the Department’s data in an article in the Handbook of 
Rural Social Resources, (University of Chicago Press, 1926) as 
follows: 


75 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


REWARD FOR LABOR AND MANAGEMENT CONTRIBUTED 
BY OPERATORS AND THEIR FAMILIES 


Reward per Wages 

Year | Net income | lowance on | °peratorand | (without 

gly 15) tee operator PEnce estes 1 ator ‘endl | uate 

per operator cnet | ete ven 
Dollars Dollars Dollars Dollars 

1919-20 1,269 aa 947 675 
1920-21 720 319 401 779 
1921-22 543 249 294 520 
1922-23 701 230 471 501 
1923-24 764 233 531 563 
1924-25 876 227 649 569 


In interpreting these returns it is important to observe (a) 
that during the four years, 1920-1923, farmers paid hired labor 
more than they themselves earned per family; (b) that of the 
$543 net income in 1921-22 only slightly more than $200 was 
in cash, the balance being the value of food contributed by the 
farm to family living, while in 1924, of the $876 net income, 
about $500 was in cash; and (c) that out of these meager cash 
incomes the average farmer had to purchase manufactured 
foods, clothing, and building materials at prices which had 
not declined in proportion to the decline in farm income, to pay 
principal on debts, and to provide a certain amount of recrea- 
tion and education for his family. The inadequacy of these 
cash earnings, and the retrenchment in the average farmer’s 
standard of living, is reflected in the financial condition of 
those industries which find in the farm population the outlet 
for their manufactured goods. It is seen also in statistics on de- 
linquent taxes, unpaid debts, and bankruptcies among farmers. 


Farmers’ Standards of Living 

Certain studies of the total value of all goods consumed by 
2,883 farm families in selected localities in nine states for the 
year ending December 31, 1923, have been completed by the 
United States Department of Agriculture. Some of the results 
presented by Dr. E. L. Kirkpatrick, who conducted the study, 
were as follows: There was an average of 4.2 persons per 


76 


A FAIR REWARD FOR FARMING 


family and 4.6 per household. The total value of all goods 
consumed was $1.503.90 per family, of which 42.1% was 
furnished by the farm and 57.9% was purchased. The total 
consumption of goods per family was divided into the follow- 
ing groups: 





POO Gm ee ry eure AON PRN Oe bee RS Red 41.2% 
ACTIN tEeWe) OM Sy inate | 14.7% 
Rent (10% of value of house) .............. 12.4% 
Furnishing and equipment aera thle tat 2.77% 
mperatiommexpetises yt hay ee) At. vy parse 4 13.9% 
WMaintenante of healthyis Wasa upon ae Py. 3.9% 
mavancement esi gy, Le Nae, oleae yl 6.3% 
eTAONOLPeeT I od 2, Sere Ce of a) 2.4% 
WISUPANCETN oe s.°. SHINIESY a8) BO BRET  podp. 2.3% 
Pcl assined te, ciao ls AER Ll alas Site 2% 

100.0% 


Dr. Kirkpatrick stated that the figures indicate that farm 
families vary their distribution of consumption very consider- 
ably as the total expenditure changes. For example, consider- 
ing the item of advancement above, it is found that when the 
total value of all goods used per family is less than $600, 1.9% 
goes for advancement, and that as the total income rises the 
expenditures for this item also increase. They amount to 
12.2% of the total for those families whose total consumption 
of goods is valued at $2,700 a year or over. 

The following generalizations are made by Dr. Kirkpatrick: 
“As the total value of all goods used per family increases: 

“(a) The percentage for food decreases. 

“(b) The percentage for clothing increases markedly al- 
though somewhat irregularly. This corresponds to 20th cen- 
tury families studied, but differs widely from 19th century 
European families. — 

‘“(c) The percentage for rent remains constant or increases 
very slightly. This is different from United States industrial 
families, studied about 1918, for which rent showed a con- 
siderable decrease. 





* Includes formal education, reading matter, organization dues, 
contributions to religious organizations, Red Cross and welfare work, 
recreation. 


77 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


“(d) The percentage for all other goods [than food, clothing 
and rent] increases. This in accordance with studies of other 
than rural families.” 


The Farmer, the Town and the City 

Dr. Arthur E. Holt, professor of social ethics at Chicago 
Theological Seminary, contributes an interesting article on 
“The Farmer, the Town and the City” to the Adult Bible Class 
Magazine for April, 1925, 

Dr. Holt prophesies that the next great controversy in 
America will be between the farmer and the consumer of his 
products. In Europe it has already reached a more advanced 
stage than in this country. He suggests several steps which 
might be taken to make it less serious. People in the small 
towns should realize that their interests are linked up with 
agricultural producers, not with the big cities. Farmers should 
be invited to join the clubs and churches of the trade centers 
and business men should encourage the organization of farmers’ 
cooperatives. At the same time consumers’ cooperatives 
should be organized in the cities so that the consumers and 
producers may have a reasonable degree of equality in bar- 
gaining power. But the most important thing is, according to 
Dr. Holt, that the church should be helping the entire movement. 

“The church must see in the organization of the farmers’ 
cooperative a first duty on the part of the farmer. After the 
farmer has achieved equality of bargaining power the church 
should preach the old doctrine of a fair price to both consumer 
and producer. It should interpret a ‘bargain’ as an inter- 
change of goods in which both parties are benefited. It is 
not a phase of war but of peace. It is a part of that process 
by which the hungry world is fed. It is evil when, as has 
been the case for the last few years, the producer is compelled 
to sell his goods at less than cost.” 

The Rural Mind and the Economic Order. The Social Service 
Bulletin of the Methodist Federation of Social Service, 
May 1, 1926. 

Handbook of Rural Social Resources, edited by Henry Israel 
and Benson Y. Landis. University of Chicago Press. 
Our Debt and Duty to the Farmer, by Henry C. Wallace. The 

Century Company. 

Farm Tenancy in the United States, by E. A. Goldenweiser 

and Leon E. Truesdell. Government Printing Office. 


78 








CHAPTER XxXI 


THE HIGH COST OF DISTRIBUTION 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into agriculture means: 
That the cost of market distribution from farmer to 
consumer shall be cut to the lowest possible terms, both 
farmers and consumers sharing in these economies. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


In our experience, have the costs of distributing farm 
products been increasing or decreasing? Why? 

What illustrations have we of what appear to be excessive 
costs of distributing the products of the farm? 

With what studies of cost of distribution are we familiar? 

What do these indicate? 

What would be involved in cutting the cost of distributing, 
e.g., wheat and wheat products to the lowest possible terms? 
What should be done about excessive profits in an industry? 

How should economies be brought about? 

Can the middleman, i.e., a marketing agency, be eliminated ? 
Can the number of middlemen be reduced? In what instances 
has it been accomplished ? 

How could consumers’ cooperative societies help? 

Could farmers and urban consumers of their products be 
linked together in one organization? In what situations? 

How could organized farmers and organized consumers 
work together? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Cost of Distributing Wheat and Bread 
In his detailed report on The Wheat Situation, sent to the 


President on November 30, 1923, Secretary of Agriculture 
_ Wallace wrote: ‘The spread between the price paid to the 
producer of wheat and price paid by the consumer of bread 
_has widened very materially since 1913. 


79 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


“The retail price of a 16-ounce loaf of bread in Washington, 
D. C., has increased from 5.45 cents in September, 1913, to 9 
cents in September, 1923. This advance in bread prices has 
not benefited the farmer. The portion received in 1913 by the 
wheat grower for the wheat equivalent of flour used in baking 
the Washington loaf was about one-fifth of the retail price of 
bread; in 1923 it amounts to less than one-sixth. While the 
wheat grower’s portion of the retail price of bread has in- 
creased during this period less than one-third of a cent, the 
margins above have increased a total of 3% cents. 

“The margins between the mill and the retailer are, there- 
fore, of most interest to the consumer, but the margins between 
the farm and the terminal market are of special concern to 
the farmer. According to the best available evidence the mar- 
‘gins for the services of local and terminal handling agencies 
as well as those of transportation agencies bear down heavily 
upon the wheat grower.” 


Waste in Marketing 


A study of the costs of marketing fruit and vegetables in the 
New York district was recently made by the Port of New 
York Authority cooperating with the U. S. Bureau of Agri- 
cultural Economics. The study revealed a serious form of 
social waste. It was found that of every dollar spent for 
Northwestern apples in the New York district 47 cents were 
required for retail and jobbing margins. The long road haul 
of a sack of Michigan potatoes costs less than the terminal 
handling and truck haul to jobber and retailer. 

The high cost of trucking is due largely to the fact that the 
trucks are engaged in productive service only a little more 
than a third of the time. The rest is consumed in delays at 
terminals and stores, trips with part loads, etc. There seems 
to be little hope of reducing trucking costs since excess equip- 
ment must be maintained to provide for rush service and “‘the 
wide seasonal and daily variation in trafhe volume.” “The 
soundest program for reducing trucking expense appears to 
be the provision of new receiving facilities and methods of 
handling which shall minimize the amount of trucking neces- 
sary within the terminal area.” 

Terminal handling, however, costs less than 10 per cent of 


80 


THE HIGH COST OF DISTRIBUTION 


the price paid by consumers. Shrinkage of quantity in such 
commodities as potatoes, cabbages, etc., means an average loss 
of slightly under 5 per cent for the retailer, and spoilage of 
perishables averages slightly more than 5 per cent. Rapid 
changes in the wholesale prices of perishables are an element 
in the jobbers’ margins. 

Credit and delivery costs are also high. A study of stores 
which offer credit and delivery and those on a strictly cash- 
carry basis showed an average difference of 14 per cent in 
prices. It was also found that the cost of making sales was 
practically the same for a small sale as for a large one. 


Efficient Marketing for Agriculture, by Theodore Macklin. 


Macmillan. 
Waste, by Stuart Chase. Macmillan. 


81 


CHAPTER XXII 


THE RIGHT OF THE FARMER TO 
ORGANIZE 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into agriculture means: 
There shall be every encouragement to the organization 
of farmers for economic ends, particularly for cooper- 
ative sales and purchases. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


Is it fair to expect farmers to sell their products individually 
ip our present market régime? Why? 

What are the handicaps of individual action? 

For what reason should collective sales be encouraged? 

What are our contacts and experiences with cooperative 
selling by farmers? 

What are the advantages and limitations of such cooperative 
action ? 

What are our contacts and experiences with cooperative 
buying of supplies by farmers? 

What are the advantages and limitations of such cooperative. 
action ? 

What effects may we expect upon social (i.e., non-economic) 
and religious institutions of the rural districts through the 
organization of economic cooperation? Why? What is the 
experience in the United States and other countries? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Ventures in Cooperation 


Perhaps the “biggest thing’ in rural America during the 
past five years has been the development of cooperative 
marketing. Farmers contend that the existing marketing 


82 


THE RIGHT OF THE FARMER TO ORGANIZE 


agencies receive too much reward and profit and that these 
services can be improved. Therefore one-sixth of the farmers 
of the country have joined cooperative marketing associations 
which they allege promise them better rewards and more 
efficient distribution.—Information Service, Federal Council of 
Churches. 


Review of Cooperative Marketing 


A concise review of the possibilities and limitations of the 
farmers’ cooperative marketing movement was recently made 
by Dr. H. E. Erdman of the division of rural instructors of the 
University of California, one of the best students of the 
economic aspects of the topic. Some of the benefits most likely 
to be realized immediately by a well organized cooperative 
are those resulting from standardization of varieties of products 
and improvement of production. ‘Members of a cooperative 
association often resent having the management discuss pro- 
duction. The management, in their opinion, has been hired 
to sell. It must be remembered, however, that the management 
is in a- position to know what varieties and qualities the mar- 
ket demands. .’ An efficient cooperative may stabilize 
production, control the flow of products to market, advertise 
the product and develop new markets, finance marketing opera- 
tions and provide collective bargaining for farmers. Professor 
Erdman points out that experience has taught that cooperative 
marketing associations cannot arbitrarily fix prices, that they 
cannot “eliminate the middleman” (they are themselves market- 
ing agencies which perform the functions. of the so-called 
middlemen) and that they cannot “greatly” reduce marketing 
costs. Other problems are the following: “It is difficult to 
maintain harmony between management and members, mem- 
bers become careless in voting and selecting officers, there is 
a tendency [among managers] toward extravagance, outsiders 
sometimes get higher prices than members even when an or- 
ganization is functioning efficiently and members of a new 
organization often expect impossibilities.’ Dr. Erdman says 
that the benefits of cooperation can only be achieved slowly 
and that “it will be long before the possibilities of cooperative 
marketing are realized.’—Christian Science Monitor. 


83 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Cooperatives are “Settling Down” 


The cooperative movement, the most significant post-war 
movement in rural America, reached in 1925 a period which 
has been variously described as one of reorganization or re- 
adjustment or “settling down.” Following a period of rapid 
expansion—considered too rapid by many _— students—the 
year was marked by numerous changes within organizations 
and by a few conspicuous failures. In a recent estimate of 
the movement made before the National Association of Market- 
ing Officials, Dr. E. G. Nourse, associate editor of the In- 
stitute of Economics, and one of the best informed students of 
agricultural cooperation, said: “Cooperation is now going 
through a ‘settling down’ process. ‘There is a pronounced ‘get- 
together’ movement among cooperative organizations and 
progress is now being made in the study of all phases of co- 
operative marketing experience in the United States.” 

In fact the sum of experience in cooperative marketing dur- 
ing the past decade indicates that cooperation is a really 
effective technique only when it is accompanied by other favor- 
able factors in the agricultural situation; such as: production 
of a commodity in quantities that can be readily absorbed by 
demand, adequate credit, able farm management that can 
achieve low-cost production, a social] ethic in the rural commu- 
nity which generates loyalty of cooperation at. all costs.—Jn- 
formation Service, Federal Council of Churches. 


Social Aspects of Farmers’ Cooperative Marketing, by Benson 
Y. Landis. University of Chicago Press. 

Cooperative Marketing, by Benson Y. Landis, Chapter in 
Handbook of Rural Social Resources. University of Chi- 
cago Press. 

Cooperation in Denmark, by Chris. L. Christenson. United 
States Department of Agriculture. 


84 


CHAPTER XXIII 


FAIR PLAY FOR RURAL EDUCATION 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into agriculture means: 
That an efficient system of both vocational and general 
education of youths and adults living on farms shall 
be available. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


In our experience are rural or urban systems of education 
more efhcient? Why? 

Is more money spent on the average to educate the average 
urban than the average rural child? Why? 

What are the peculiar conditions surrounding the conduct 
of rural schools? 

Are rural teachers as well equipped as urban teachers? 
Should they be? Should the child on the farm be allowed to 
have an inferior system of education? 

Should the wealthier states of the country, through taxation, 
contribute money toward the education of children in states 
which have comparatively little wealth? Are these wealthier 
states inclined to approve such helpful plans? How could 
this be brought about? 

Is agriculture peculiarly in need of a good system of voca- 
tional education? Why? How should it be set up? What 
agencies are at work? Is more being done already in voca- 
tional training for farming than for many other vocations? 
Why? 

Should the general education of farm youth (e.g., the elemen- 
tary education of the first six grades) have as an aim to make 
particular efforts to retain children on farms or should it seek 
to give children experiences of life with no undue emphasis 
upon farm life, or should it do something else? 


85 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Data About Rural Education 


There are about 175,000 one-teacher public schools in the 
United States with an average of 25 pupils, 12,000 two-teacher 
schools averaging 50 pupils and 15,000 consolidated schools 
averaging 100 pupils. The total enrollment of rural schools 
is approximately 6,500,000. Over 250,000 teachers are em- 
ployed. (Estimates by Professor Mabel Carney, Columbia 
University, an authority on rural education.) The amount 
spent per capita in educating rural school children is consid- 
erably less than that spent for urban children. Salaries of 
teachers in rural districts are much lower than in the city. 
Typical surveys of state educational systems show that the 
great majority of young, untrained, transient teachers are in 
the rural schools, but steady progress is being made in teacher 
training. More than half of the country’s normal schools and 
twenty-four state high school systems now offer special instruc- 
tion to prepare rural teachers.—Information Service, Federal 
Council of Churches. 


Data on Vocational Instruction in Agriculture 
AGRICULTURE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 
The . . . 1924 report of the Federal Board for Vocational 


Education . . is . . . the source of the following data — 


regarding tethers employed and pupils enrolled: 
Teachers and pupils in schools for vocational agriculture 


Year Teachers Pupils 
1 ED eae ng ON Nt Puen Rd Bo oe 995 15,453 
LOLS festeie. deb 4a: Le kates borne 1,201 18-933 
INES 20s Gis... dak. Dalaba ice tate a ey 1,570 31,301 
19291 wheats. oftod. ne hiek on bee.’ oR Ue | 43,352 
L922 6. addia. viene Ob “ket ties 2,290 60,236 
O23 ees, Mie kies aja nhs Wii ec eects Sane 3,012 71,298 
D4 asks.) sui vig ho aia aitanes canis ak aces cael eas 3,454 85,984 


These two tables show a steady and consistent growth in 


expenditures from all sources and in enrollment of pupils. 


This is of special interest in view of the farming depression | 


of the past few years. 


86 


| 
; 


FAIR PLAY FOR RURAL EDUCATION 


The enrollment in vocational agriculture for the various 
types of work is shown by the following figures from the 1924 
report of the Federal Board for Vocational Education: 


Enrollment in vocational agriculture by types of work 


Part Short 
Year Evening time All day unit 
RaLiNert meee Pe nicds cen caticit © ett. P5453 9 ie 
Te rs Oy eee One ter Me eee Ren oe, 2 M99 3 Sythe teeaese 
NS ENG Tig NET EO TD eae ee a ee ea a ego 109 Me Pern 
TERA BS. i 2 eles eens oad Bee 14139 $44 50740 7.638 orn seeks 
DD ARETE et Odette ies 17533 59 Th 25.0 Lido aes 
BOARE LT as dake stn! se 9,319 yA TV be ee Ware! 1,911 
TAS Ife it a, 5 ee age LS*Z27 2,143 65,358 a 200 


The enrollment in day schools is primarily in high school 
departments of agriculture. From the data given it is apparent 
that there has been a tendency in the past few years to expand 
the types of work offered so as to reach other groups of pupils. 


AGRICULTURE IN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTIONS 
In many of the colleges of agriculture there has been a de- 
cline in recent years in the enrollment in agriculture. In the 
land grant colleges, statistics show the following enrollments 
in agriculture for the white institutions: 


LODZ Safir. Veber tre nate 2,471 ON ETS Fe Gees nee ee ner 14,844 
1903 Ahtsds 3 Saha O84 2,331 LOLA ALS ah aitel pila es 17,169 
BQO eSifih.( 2 FAcpents <Ge- 2,473 1D LS 1G ane Sei kes Ma ees ae 16,874 
PEO S=G0 ba ohevatae hs ete 2,963 LOL G1: in St agi ete 16,409 
PODG 4A iss dala apednns 3,930 b RS S eed OS eee peat 13,445 
LOO THB cc Hp os heln Begs 4,566 1a Se easter PAIS 8 10,345 
TO Ge Oubwrti ta. "tina tears 5 5,873 pe DL PN ee eS vie 1$,3./0 
DOU DT die naire age 5 ys sss PEAK, T920-2 1 oes eee arama 15,434 
BO le Baas oss BG 2 8,859 PIZLeZ2) cre sce an 15,477 
OR SED eee sa 10,701 E922" 23) Cre shee ta eae oe 14,615 
BT ZAI metas ssiie. 2 kat >: _ 12,462 1923-24) Te ences 13,685 


- From Bulletin No. 32, 1925, Bureau of Education, Washington, 
D. CG. Advance Sheets from the Biennial Survey of Education in the 
United Statcs (1922-1924). By George A. Works. 


Rural Education, by Orville G. Brim. Macmillan. 
Country Community Education, Fifth Report of. the American 
Country Life Association. University of Chicago Press. .; - 


87 


CHAPTER XXIV 


RURAL SOCIAL LIFE 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into agriculture means: 
That special efforts shall be made to ensure the farmer 
adequate social institutions, including the church, the 
school, the library, means of recreation, good local 
government, and particularly the best possible farm 
home. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


In our experience do farmers have access to libraries in the 
same way as city and town people? What has been done to 
meet this need? 


In our experience what are the chief differences between 
churches in small towns and the open country and churches 
in the city? 

In our experience do country churches “feed” the city 
churches? Do city churches owe something to country churches? 
Have they a peculiar responsibility to help improve conditions 
in country churches? How can they help? 


What is our experience in regard to recreational facilities? 
What is being done to improve conditions? 


Can rural communities now secure good and appropriate 
movies if they want them? How can the leaders of a com- 
munity cooperate with the local exhibitor of movies? 


Is it correct to say that urban people may contribute volun- 
tarily and through taxation toward the improvement of rural 
institutions not for charity nor for selfish purposes but simply 
as a matter of justice because much of the cities’ population 
comes from the country? 


Should we be interested in promoting mutual. helpfulness 
between city and country churches?) What may we. do? 


88 


RURAL SOCIAL LIFE 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Rural Health Conditions 


Not more than 12 per cent of the rural population of the 
United States, it is said, enjoys anything like modern health 
supervision. Forty Kentucky counties in 1924 were reported 
to be without adequate medical service. One of these counties 
had not a single doctor. In a Montana county of 5.000 square 
miles, there were only three doctors and no hospitals. In 
Minnesota 127 small villages were reported to be without 


doctors. Similar conditions existed in the Dakotas. This sit- 


uation is believed to be largely due to the fact that modern 
medical education is developing physicians who will not con- 
sent to dispense with the advantages of up-to-date clinics and 


_laboratories—Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1485, United States De- 


partment of Agriculture, entitled Rural Hospitals, by Wayne 
C. Nason of the Division of Farm Population and Rural Life. 


Sermon on Crippled Children 


The weekly sermon by Dr. J. W. Holland in the Progressive 
Farmer (Raleigh) for October 10, 1925, gave data on the 
extent of crippled children and discussed the rapid spread of 
the movement to come to the relief of these sufferers. There 
are said to' be approximately 400,000 crippled children in the 
United States. A large proportion of these could have been 
entirely cured if they had had early medical attention. The 
“Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children” alone now have 
capacities of 600 beds. 


The Country Church 


The most adequate and extensive studies of the church situa- 
tion in “town and country” (including towns having up to 
5,000 people) are those of the Institute of Social and Religious 
Research. Considering Protestantism only, these studies in- 
dicate that there are 101,000 very unevenly distributed churches 
in town and country. One-seventh of the rural communities 
are without churches, On the other hand there is considerable 
over-churching in many sections, particularly the east, south, 
and middle west. One out.of every five rural churches. receives 


89 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


home mission aid, and more than half of these subsidized 
churches are in active competition with other subsidized 
churches. Seven out of every ten churches have only part of 
a pastor’s time. The salaries of many country ministers are 
so low that one-third of their number eke out a bare livelihood 
by working at some other occupation as well as the ministry. 
The average annual salary is equivalent to $1,150 cash and 
free use of a house. Two-fifths of our rural churches are 
standing still or losing members, while one-half make an 
annual gain in membership running as high as 10 per cent. 
The total membership of the churches is 16 per cent of the 
total population. The typical country church has a program 
which includes worship, conducting a Sunday school, and such | 
pastoral care as a part-time minister can give. A large pro- 
portion of ministers are untrained and the college and seminary 
trained men either avoid the country or tend to drift to towns 
and cities.—Information Service, Federal Council of Churches. 


County Libraries 


The residents of approximately 200 of the 3,065 counties in 
the United States enjoy county library service. Forty-two of © 
these 200 counties are in California. Since 1911 the develop- 
ment of county libraries has distinguished that state and stim- 
ulated a great interest in the provision of libraries in rural” 
communities throughout the country. Prior to 1911 there were 
a few isolated instances in which counties had established 
libraries, but they created no wide-spread interest. 


Development of Social Work 


Rural social work is a new.but rapidly developing field. 
There are today 1,089 rural public health nurses at work under 
the auspices of the Red Cross. Official health departments of 
counties are increasing in number. The United States Public 
Health Service cooperates in demonstration projects in rural 
health work in 60 counties or districts comparable to counties, . 
in 17 states. The Rockefeller Foundation and the International 
Health Board have conducted significant demonstrations, par- 
ticularly in the south. Child welfare specialists are employed 
in a small number of counties. North Carolina in 1919 made 
it mandatory for every county to maintain a department of 


90 


RURAL SOCIAL LIFE 


public welfare. Missouri has passed a law permitting counties 

to employ welfare secretaries. In Pennsylvania and Iowa 
county committees on social service are being formed. Private 
: agencies like the Pennsylvania Children’s Aid and the State 
Charities Aid of New York work on a county basis. Various 
religious agencies also carry on social work. In general it 
may perhaps be said that organized rural social work is 
largely an extension or adaptation of urban technique. ‘The 
form of coordination of rural social work and all phases of 
its future development are being debated and_ studied.—In- 
formation Service, Federal Council of Churches. 


Handbook of Rural Social Resources, edited by Henry Israel 

| and Benson Y. Landis. University of Chicago Press. 

Our Templed Hills, by Ralph A. Felton. Missionary Educa- 
tion Movement. 1926. Study Course. 


91 


CHAPTER XXV 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL 
COMMUNITIES 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into agriculture means: 
That there shall be a widespread development of organ- 
ized rural communities, thoroughly democratic, com- 
pletely cooperative, and possessed with the spirit of 
the common welfare. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


In our experience are rural communities tending to become 
more or less democratic and cooperative? In what ways? 

What helps and what hinders the development of loyalty 
to a community? 

How may our social institutions in the country contribute 
more to the development of communities? 
What has been the part of religious denominations in the 

development of rural communities? 

What is our experience with the community church move- 
ment? 

How may organized religion best contribute to the develop- 
ment of communities? 

If there are four small, weak Protestant churches in a com- 
munity of 1,000 people, what methods might be used to further 
the development of a more cooperative and democratic com- 
munity? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 
The Good Life on the Farm 


The community . . . is a group of people based upon and 
growing out of their fundamental desires to associate with 
one another and to get their wants satisfied. Nearly everyone 
recognizes that people can get things more economically and 
get more and better things if they act together in some sort 


92 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL COMMUNITIES 


of group or organized fashion. For example, it is plainly 
impossible for each farm family to hire a tutor for its children. 
But when a number of families act together they are able to 
employ at reasonable expense a competent teacher. Moreover, 
they are able to build schools and provide them with the 
necessary equipment. 

So if wants are to be satisfied, if standards are to be pro- 
gressive, and if rural civilization is to be permanent, then 
group action will be necessary. This can no longer take place 
on the old neighborhood economy basis. It must be extended 
to a larger community basis which is consistent with the de- 
mands of changed needs and wants. It will likewise probably 
mean some specialization on the part of the country community, 
for certain needs can now be more successfully met by the 
town or the city than was possible in the pioneering days. 
This only means that some farmers and their families will 
need to give more consideration to local community relations. 
They may need to redefine their community boundaries and 
their group loyalties. 


A rural community, for example, which is organized for 
recreation is admitted to be a happier community, freer from 
vice, crime, and disease than one which has no organization. 
It is pronounced a better place in which to live and work. 
This is true for every phase of activity in the rural community. 
Few of the better things of life come about by accident or 
even by individual effort alone. 

To prosper a rural community must be able to produce what 
consumers want and are willing to pay for. It must be able 
to do this at the least possible cost consistent with producing 
a commodity of such quality and standard as to permit of 
marketing and yielding a profit. This means organization. 

To get a fair share of the price the consumer is willing to 
pay for this standardized, quality product an efficient and 
orderly marketing system is required. This means organization. 

To convert profits earned by efficient production and orderly 
marketing into the satisfactions for individual and community 
wants—“‘to open the door to a good kind of life on the farm” 
—is likewise a task of the first magnitude—Rural Community 
Organization Handbook, by J. H. Kolb and A. F. Wileden. 
The University of Wisconsin. 1926. Pamphlet. 


93 


THE. CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


“What’s on the Farm Woman’s Mind?” 


A conference of sixteen farm women chosen because of their 
vision, their contacts with other women and their ability to 
express “what’s on the farm woman’s mind” was recently 
called in Chicago by the Farmer’s Wife and the American 
Country Life Association. It was a conference with “no 
speeches” of any kind. Only a few representatives of national 
agencies and the federal government were called in as con- 
sultants. 


At the opening session it was agreed that the 8,000,000 farm 
women of the United States suffer from an “inferiority com- 
plex,’ but that it is disappearing. One of the first sessions 
was given to listing the felt needs of farm women. From this 
catalog, four topics were chosen as of most importance: edu- 
cation, economics, “appreciations,” and community development. 
When education was considered the interest centered upon 
health education and citizenship. It was felt that information 
in regard to simple rules of health had not yet found its way 
to the farm woman; that health agencies had not yet popu- 
larized their data; and that organizations had frequently more 
interest in their own programs than in doing the necessary 
pioneering work of reaching the farm woman. A resolution 
was passed urging that popularization of information be the 
keynote of the work of the health agencies and that they ven- 
ture out from the city in rendering their services. 

The discussion of “appreciations” revealed that these farm 
women had a conscious need of art—for example, great paint- 
ings of farm and home life; of an appreciation of the farm 
surroundings; of self-esteem rather than apology for their 
vocation. While all the sessions were characterized by a deep 
spiritual note, and the closing session was described as one 
consisting mainly of prayers and poems, the church as an in- 
stitution received mainly criticisms. These women resented 
the ordinary custom in country churches of relegating women 
to the task of preparing ladies’ aid suppers—they passed reso- 
lutions of sympathy and urged proposals of relief for “the 
ladies’ aid and similar organizations.” One woman remarked 
that the average country church does not promote the mental 
health of women. ‘There was expressed a desire for “better 
preachers.” 


94 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL COMMUNITIES 


When economic matters were discussed, the conference 
adopted a series of findings recommending that farm women 
take a greater interest in legislative enactments concerning 
agriculture, that an effort be made to interest city women in 
agricultural problems and that farm women should help sus- 
tain the morale of cooperative marketing institutions. The 
farm woman’s importance as a factor in producing income 
was recognized and a great deal of time was spent in the 
formulation of standards of consumption, and standards of 
life, which included “health, neatness, beauty, efficiency, sim- 
plicity of spirit, happiness, companionship, physical comfort, 
hospitality and genuineness.” 


Rural Social Problems, by C. J. Galpin. ‘The Century Company. 

The Community, by E. C. Lindeman. Association Press. 

The Farmer and His Community. Harcourt, Brace and Co. 

Organizing the Community, by Bessie A. McClenahan. The 
Century Company. 


95 


CHAPTER XXVI 
CAN CITY AND COUNTRY COOPERATE? 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into agriculture means: 
That there shall be fullest measure of friendly recipro- 
cal cooperation between the rural and city workers. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


In our experience what instances have there been of city 


and rural workers cooperating on economic measures? Is the — 
tendency toward more or less contacts between city and rural © 


workers? 
What economic interests have these groups in common? 


What economic interests have these groups that are in 


conflict ? 

In our experience how frequently do leaders of organized 
labor and organized farmers meet and confer? Do these two 
groups tend to understand or misunderstand each other? 


How may the fullest measure of friendly reciprocal coopera- | 


tion in economic measures between these two groups be pro- 
moted? 


In our experience what instances have there been of co-- 


operation between these groups in political measures? 


What political interests have they in common? At what 


points do their political interests conflict ? 


How may the fullest measure of friendly reciprocal co 


operation between these two groups in politics be promoted? 
How may cooperation between these two groups in other 
tasks be promoted ? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Cooperation versus Conflict 
In the states of North Dakota and Minnesota, large numbers 
of farmers and industrial workers have found that they have 


96 





CAN CITY AND COUNTRY COOPERATE? 


mutual interests which appear to them more important than 
those which are conflicting. One of the ablest strategists in 
the Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota, after having been 
through six years of negotiations between the two groups, 
stated: “We do not expect farmers and laborers to cooperate 
in all instances. We recognize that they will agree only on 
some political and economic questions and will disagree on 
others. We believe that the issues on which they agree are 
more important, however, and that it is to the advantage of 
both groups to cooperate rather than to compete in politics.” 


Observers and participants point out the common interests 
of these two groups: They feel that they have a common 
enemy, “big business”; they feel that they have mutual inter- 
ests as debtors, the credit of both being controlled by the busi- 
ness community; the farmers’ real income as well as that of 
the industrial workers represents labor; they have common 
complaint against the high costs, profits and inefficiencies of 


the distributing agencies. “Farmers and industrial workers 
must cooperate,’ said an officer of a farmers’ organization, 
“because neither we nor labor can get anywhere alone.” In- 


tense feeling of opposition on the part of both groups to the 
business community has thus overcome the felt antagonism 
between the two groups. 

On the other hand, the maintenance of this cooperation is 
constantly menaced: In this section, when farmers are em- 
Ployers of labor, their interests are in conflict with certain 
groups of organized workers, particularly the Industrial Work- 
ers of the World; in a new movement composed of two such 
Sroups there are many problems of adjustment and there has 
been friction between leaders which can only be described, 
Says one observer, as “vicious personal conflicts”; the extremely 
low incomes of farmers during the past few years of depression 
have aroused some antagonism on their part toward labor in 
the cities because it has apparently been better off; in Minne- 
sota the formation of a new party which has won victories 
has prompted numerous opportunists among politicians to be- 
come candidates under the new banner in the hope of attain- 
ing office and these willing volunteers are sometimes a source 
of much discord; finally, it is recognized by some of the strate- 
gists in the movement in Minnesota that “the morrow of the 


97 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


victory is more dangerous than the eve,” and that the real 
problems of the farmer-labor coalition may just begin when 
it has a governor and control of the legislature. —Information 
Service, Federal Council of Churches. 


A Rural-Urban Conflict? 


‘In academic and some other quarters, the significance of a 
rural-urban conflict is being pondered. ‘There are students of 
agricultural economics who believe we are just on the verge 
of an intensification of that conflict. It is thought that food 
prices in the cities will tend to be considerably higher and 
may become extremely high in ten or fifteen years; and that 
then the rural groups will be as complacent in their advan- 
tageous position as the urban consuming public has been dur- 
ing the agricultural depression of the past few years. A prom- 
inent United States senator is reported to have stated that 
the rural-urban conflict is one of the great issues which the 
country must face in the next two decades. fais de ie Serv- 
ice, Federal Council of Churches. 


Rural-Urban Cooperation 

The testimony of Dr. Kenyon L. Butterfield, President of 
Michigan State Agricultural College, on evidences of increas- 
ing rural-urban cooperation, appearing in Rural American for 
June, 1926, is as follows: 

“Never before have I felt so strongly that the probable 
trend out in this area, at least, is going to be toward a knit- 
ting together of the smaller towns with the farming people 
surrounding. Indeed, in one case, there is a city in Michigan 
of 50,000 people that has maintained for half a dozen years 


a very large community club with at least half of the members 


farmers and furnishing at least half of the attendance, as a 
rule. I suspect, however, that the characteristic development 
will show itself in villages of five hundred up to smaller cities 
of perhaps five thousand. I have received great encourage- 
ment and stimulus from this discovery.” 


Farmers and Workers in American Politics, by Stuart L. 
Rice. Longmans, Green & Co. 


98 


RAMA DM 
RACE RELATIONS 





CHAPTER XXVII 


A FAIR DEAL FOR EVERY RACE 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into race relations 
means: The practice of the American principle of the 
same protection and rights for all races who share our 
common life. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


Which races in our locality or nation do not receive equal 
protection and rights? Why? 

In our experiences when and how have protection and 
rights been denied in the courts? In the schools? On rail- 
road trains? In housing? At the polls? In recreation? In 
social intercourse? In labor unions? In industrial plants? 
In churches? 

Does the declaration in favor of equal rights for all races 
include the right of access to all public places including res- 
taurants and hotels, the right of intermarriage and _ social 
equality? 

Should we, as Christians, oppose or favor full social equality 
(including the right of intermarriage) ? 

How are legal rights of minority races denied by social 
customs? What are our experiences? 

What can we do to change laws and social customs so as 
to secure equal protection and rights for all the races who 
share our life? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


A Vocational Color Line 


The Hospital Library and Service Bureau of the American 
Conference on Hospital Service, with office in Chicago, has 
recently published an informal study of the educational facili- 
ties for colored nurses and their use in hospital, visiting and 
public health nursing. 


101 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Of 1,688 listed accredited schools of nursing, only 54 re- 
ported that they admit colored studen‘s; 1,588 reported they 
do not. Of 55 listed non-accredited schools, 21 reported that 
they admit colored students and 4 that they do not. 

Sixty-six hospitals reported that they do and 1,576 that they 
do not use colored graduate nurses regularly and 60 that they 
do and 1,582 that they do not employ them as “specials.” 
Of the state and local departments of health of which in- 
quiry was made, 58 per cent replied. In 59 cases they said 
that they employ colored nurses and in 489 cases that they do 
not. Of those replying 132 stated there are available a suf- 
ficient number of colored public health nurses and 24 reported 
that there are not. 


Segregation of Negroes in the North 


During the recent months the tension in northern cities over 
the residential segregation of Negroes has been increasing. 
It is, in some centers, assuming the proportions of a major 
social and moral problem. The issues involved in this ques- 
tion may be analyzed as follows: 

1. The right of a citizen irrespective of creed or color to 
buy. or use property in any locality where he may choose or 
be able to secure it. 

2. The expediency of taking the risk of exercising that right 
in a particular community where there is strong opposition 
or hostility on the part of its residents. 

3. The question whether a prospective resident should give — 
consideration to the feelings of those who have fears of him 
and his race through ignorance, misunderstanding or prejudice. 

4. The problem of providing economical, sanitary houses, 
with provision for privacy and culture, for colored people 
who are suffering as do other groups from low purchasing 
power.—Information Service, Federal Council of Churches. 


Race Relations in California 


The Annals of the American Academy for November, 1925, 
printed an article on California’s attitude toward the Orien- 
tal, by Eliot Grinnell Mears, executive secretary of the Survey 
of Race Relations, Mr. Mears considers that the importance 
of California’s attitude toward Orientals is due not only to 


102 


Bera DEALEPOR EVERYI(RACE 


her larger Oriental population but to the fact that news from 
California is much better disseminated throughout the country 
than that from other Pacific Coast states. He points out 
that the population of California is mainly native American, 
and that, in some places where other nationalities are numer- 
ous, Japanese are preferred to the foreign-born whites. 

Organized labor, Mr. Mears reminds us, has always been 
vigorously opposed to Oriental immigration. . . . Economic 
pressure is the main cause for friction, Mr. Mears’thinks. “The 
essence of the economic factor is that nothing shall be done 
domestically or internationally to lower the American standard 
of living.’ Among the social considerations are school at- 
tendance, Oriental group organizations, racial intermarriage, 
segregated dwellings, lack of personal contact between Ameri- 
cans and Orientals, the low social status of the majority of 
Japanese and Chinese in this country. The racial factor, Mr. 
Mears says, is “so seldom isolated that Californian opinion on 
this point is most difficult to ascertain.” 


All Colors. The Conference on the Christian Way of Life. 
Pamphlet, Study Outline. 

A Negro Girl and the Y.W.C.A., The Survey, July 15, 1926. 

Mob Murder in America. Federal Council of Churches, 1926. 
Pamphlet. 

Negro Migration, by George E. Haynes. Federal Council, of 
Churches. Reprinted from the 1924 Proceedings of the 
National Conference of Social Work. Pamphlet. 

The Trend of the Races, by George E. Haynes. Missionary 
Education Movement, 1922. 

Selected Articles on the Negro Problem, by Julia E. Johnsen. 
H. W. Wilson Co. 

The Law vs. The Mob, by Monroe H. Work. Federal Council 
of Churches, 1925. Pamphlet. 

Segregation by Contract. Information Service of the Federal 
Council of Churches, June 19, 1926. 

The Racial Situation in America, by Will W. Alexander. 
Commission on Interracial Cooperation. Pamphlet. 


103 


CHAPTER XXVIII 


DISCRIMINATION vs. BROTHERHOOD 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into race relations 
means: The elimination of racial discrimination, and 
substitution of full brotherly treatment for all races 
in America. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What are the causes of racial discrimination? 

How do individuals remove the causes of racial discrimina- 
tion? Should we determine our relations with each individual 
solely on the basis of his merits, not on the basis of his color 
or race? 

What scientific evidence favors discrimination against any 
race in the immigration policy of the United States? 

What factors chiefly influence our national immigration 
policy? 

Granting the wisdom of restriction of immigration, does 
either social science or Christian teaching sanction discrimi- 
nation against any race? 

What would be involved in giving the American Indian 
“full brotherly treatment”? 

What would be involved in giving the Negro “full broth- 
erly treatment”? 

What would be involved in giving the Jews “full brotherly 
treatment”? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Testimony of a Negro’ Woman 


The curious thing about white people is that they expect 
us to judge them by their statute books and not by their 
actions. But we colored people have learned better, so much 
so that when we prepare for a journey, when we enter on 
a new undertaking, when we decide on where to go to school, 


104 


DISCRIMINATION VS. BROTHERHOOD 


if we want to shop, to move, to go to the theatre, to eat (out- 
side of our own houses), we think quite consciously, “If we 
can pull it through without some white person interfering.” .. . 

I am a colored woman, neither white nor black, neither 
pretty nor ugly, neither specially graceful nor at all deformed. 
I am fairly well educated, of fair manners and deportment. 
In brief, the average American done over in brown. In the 
morning I go to work by means of the subway, which is 
crowded. Presently somebody gets up. ‘The man standing 
in front of the vacant place looks around meaning to point 
it out to a woman. I am the nearest one. “But oh,” says 
his glance, “you’re colored. I’m not expected to give it to 
you.” And down he plumps. According to my reflexes that 
morning I think to myself “hypocrite” or “pig.’ And make 
a conscious effort to shake off the unpleasantness of it, for I 
don’t want my day spoiled. 

At noon I go for lunch. But I always go to the same place 
because I am not sure of my reception in other places. If 
I go to another place I must fight it through. But usually 
I am hungry, I want food, not a law-suit. And, too, how 
long am I to wait before I am sure of the slight? Shall I 
march up to the proprietor and say, “Do you serve colored 
people?” or shall I sit and drum on the table for fifteen or 
twenty minutes, feel my anger rising, prepare to explode only 
to have the attendant come at that moment and nonchalantly 
arrange the table? I eat but I go out still not knowing 
whether the delay was intentional or not. . 

I think the thing that irks us most is the teasing uncer- 
tainty of it all. Did the man at the box ofhce give us the 
seat behind the post on purpose? Is the shop girl impudent 
or merely nervous? Had the position really been filled* before 
we applied for it?—Copyright The World Tomorrow. Re- 
printed by permission. 


Causes of Racial Conflicts 

Bruno Lasker of the Inquiry (the National Conference on 
the Christian Way of Life) in The Survey for Oct. 15, 1925, 
remarks that while rigid demarcations between classes do not 
exist in America, race discriminations are often present though 
unnoticed until some unusual circumstance calls attention to 


105 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


them. In spite of the fact that people only become aware of 
race problems after some unfortunate outbreak, Mr. Lasker 
believes that the real cause lies in the everyday experiences 
with different languages, habits, etc. He calls attention to 
the fact that “racial or cultural attitudes cut across economic 
interests. In short, the prevailing temper of the community 
rather than the reasoned interest of either capital or labor 
often governs the behavior of both toward the potential wage- 
earner of dark skin or foreign speech.” 

Mr. Lasker concludes: “But to get at the root of the prevail- 
ing race attitudes among industrial workers implies a knowl- 
edge of them as citizens and neighbors, as parents and church- 
men, as members of their own national group and as individu- 
als with different tastes and ideas.” 


“Nordic Nonsense” 


“This Nordic nonsense” is the term applied in a discussion 
of the theory of Nordic superiority by Professor Franz Boas 
of Columbia University in the Forum for October, 1925. Pro- 
fessor Boas thinks that the growth of racial consciousness is 
due partly to the “more intimate interracial contact” accom- 
panying the extension of commerce, partly to an aesthetic ele- 
ment “based on the contrast of bodily traits,’ and still more 
to “the development of a biological point of view’ and modern 
theories of genetics. Professor Boas argues that so-called 
Nordic traits may be found in all parts of Europe and, there- 
fore, cannot be regarded as purely Nordic. Physiological func- 
tions are not a sufficient evidence, for every constitutional 
type is found in all European races. “Intelligence tests have 
shown,” says Professor Boas, “thatirecent immigrants do not 
do so Well in such tests as those who have been here longer.” 
Professor Boas concludes that it is a question of adjustment 
to a new environment rather than of different hereditary 
endowment. 


America — Eden or Battlefield? 

Is race antagonism an ineradicable trait of human nature? 
Is man, as Dean Inge says, a beast of prey? Have racial 
barriers always kept humanity apart in separate groups? Are 
the great majority of living human beings of pure racial 
stock? Are you? How do you know? 


106 


DISCRIMINATION VS. BROTHERHOOD 


Is each racial group struggling for survival against every 
other? Are white Americans in league with white Europeans 
to destroy or subject the colored races? Are Americans of 
different racial and national origins engaged in constant deadly 
strife with each other? 

Are a majority of white Americans determined, in associa- 
tion with the white people of England, Russia, Germany, Italy, 
Canada, New Zealand and Luxembourg, to “dominate the 
world”? Are the Japanese, Singhalese, Tibetans, Samoyedes, 
and American Indians making common cause to “dominate the 
world”? Is there a race war on at the present time? Is it 
bound to come? 

Is America a battlefield of warring, racing factions?— 
The Inquiry. New York. March, 1925. 


And Who Is My OPH P OAR outline for the study of race 
relations in America. Associated Press, 1924. (For the 
National Conference on the Christian Way of Life, other- 
wise known as the “Inquiry.’’) 

Studying Prejudice. Information Service, Federal Fersittal of 
Churches, May 9, 1925. 

Christianity ‘and the ‘Race Problem, by J. H. Oldham. Doran, 
1924. Pamphlet. 

The Clash of Color, by Basil Mathews. Missionary Education 
Movement, 1924. Cloth and paper. 

Of One Blood, by Robert E. Speer. Council of Women for 
Home Missions and Missionary Education Movement, 1924. 
Cloth and paper. 

Toward Racial Cooperation. What Was Said and Done at 
the First National Interracial Conference. Federal Coun- 
cil of Churches, 1926. Cloth and paper. 

Danger Zones of the Social Order, by Sherwood Eddy and 
Kirby Page. Doran, 1926. Pamphlet. 

America: Its Problems and Perils, by Sherwood Eddy. Doran, 
1922. Pamphlet. 

Progress in Race Relations 1924-25. Commission on Inter- 
racial Cooperation. Pamphlet. 


107 


CHAPTER XXIX 
THE COLOR LINE WITHIN THE CHURCH 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into race relations 
means: The fullest cooperation between the churches of 
various races, even though of different denominations. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


In our experiences, what instances have we observed of co- 
operation between churches of different races? 

What have been the most common relationships between 
churches of different races? 

What specific instances have we observed of fellowship or 
cooperation between Jewish and Christian congregations? 

How can mutual understanding best be promoted between 
Jews and Christians? 

What methods can be used to promote greater coopera- 
tion between churches of different races? 

What are the difficulties in building such cooperative ties? 

Is experience in obtaining cooperation between churches of 
different denominations of the same race of any assistance 
here? How? 

In our experience, what principles assist us in intergroup 
education? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


“The Literature of Understanding” 

A small group of Jewish and Christian leaders has been 
developing what has been called a “literature of understand- 
ing’ which shall be read by Jews and Christians, in the en- 
deavor to promote goodwill and cooperation. Two of the 
creators of this literature are Dr. Alfred Williams Anthony, 
Chairman of the Committee on Goodwill between Jews and 
Christians of the Federal Council of Churches, and Rabbi 
Clifton Harby Levy of New York, of the Temple of Jewish 
Faith, New York City, both of whom contributed articles to 
The Jewish Tribune (New York) for March 26, 1926. Dr. 
Anthony writes upon the topic “How the Jew Can Help the 


108 


THE COLOR LINE WITHIN THE CHURCH 


Christian,” and Rabbi Levy on “How the Christian Can Help 
the Jew.” 

Dr. Anthony says to the Jews: “Give us religion; give us 
your best. . . .” Further, Jews who have pioneered in mak- 
ing contributions which are of incalculable benefit to Christians 
—in art, music, literature, science, statesmanship, finance, and 
real religion—should not cease to proclaim those contributions. 
The Jews can also help the Christians by realizing that they 
have tasks in overcoming anti-Semitism. “There is an anti- 
Christianism as well as an anti-Semitism.” Jewish clannish- 
ness, which has arisen partly out of bitter experiences with 
Christians, is one of the reasons for opposition to the Jews, 
and Jews should grapple with this tendency of theirs when 
they consider exclusion from clubs and social organizations. 

Rabbi Levy points to various methods whereby the Christian 
can help the Jew. He may “put aside all prejudices.” He 
may seek to know “what manner of men these Jews are”’— 
Jews of the twentieth century are unlike those of the first. 
The Christian can help the Jew by endeavoring to understand 
the development of Jewish religious ideals. It is the duty 
and privilege of Christians to conduct business dealings with 
Jews in the same manner as with non-Jews, and to oppose 
anti-Jewish jests in the papers and on the stage. The Chris- 
tian can make more effort to understand the Jew’s view of 
Jesus, and to accept historical evidences in regard to the cir- 
cumstances surrounding the death of Jesus. He can endeavor 
to show the Jews that persecution has not been in accord with 
the spirit of Christianity, but has been due to the perversity 
and savagery of men. Finally, Rabbi Levy says: “I would 
help give the Jew confidence in progressive Christians by 
showing him that I had no desire to make him accept my faith.” 


Race Relations Sunday 


As a means of promoting contacts of white and colored 
groups under the best and most amicable circumstances, this 
day continues to grow in popularity with increasing numbers 
of churches and communities all over the country. The year 
1923, when the day was initiated, it was observed widely in 
the East and Middle West; in 1924 its observance increased 
as far west as Los Angeles, Cal. This year it was observed 


109 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


also in the South as in Galveston, Texas, where white and 
colored worshipers attended a service in Trinity Episcopal 
Church, addressed by both white and colored speakers and 
with music from the choir of a colored Baptist church. 

Of special significance for this year and for the observance 
in 1926 is the broadening of the exercises to include relations 
of Jews and Christians, of whites and Indians, whites and 
Mexicans in the United States, and of Orientals as well as 
of Negro and white Americans.—The 1925 Report of the Com- 
mission on the Church and Race Relations, Federal Council 
of Churches. 


Interracial Committees Organized in the North 

The interracial committees, made up as usual of represen- 
tatives of the churches, social agencies, civic organizations, 
public schools and similar organized forces of the community 
have continued to increase in numbers this year. 

With the committees organized in the North and West in 
1924, the following cities, besides the many interracial com- 
mittees in the south, now have interracial committees or com- 
missions: 


Brooklyn, N. Y. Hartford, Conn. 
Buffalo, N. Y. Kansas City, Mo. 
Chicago, IIl. Minneapolis, Minn. 
Cincinnati, O. Milwaukee, Wis. 
Champaign, Ill. Peoria, Ill. 
Cleveland, O. Philadelphia, Pa. 
Danville, Ill. Quincy, Il. 
Dayton, O. St. Louis, Mo. 
Decatur, III. Toledo, O. 
Denver, Col. Trenton, N. J. 
Des Moines, Ia. Wichita, Kan. 
Evanston, II. Wilmington, Del. 
Gary, Ind. Youngstown, O. 


Indianapolis, Ind. 
—The 1925 report of the Commission on the Church and Race 
Relations, Federal Council of the Churches. 


Race Relations Sunday, 1926. Suggestions and Material. Com- 
mission on the Church and Race Relations, Federal Coun- 
cil of Churches, 1926. Pamphlet. 

The Crusade of the Churches for Applied Brotherhood in Race 
Relations. Commission on the Church and Race Relations, 
Federal Council of Churches, 1925. Pamphlet. 


110 


Ole Vs 4 9 MF Ge. @, 6.4 


MEETING THE IMMIGRANT’S NEED 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into race relations 
means: Educational and social equipment for the special 


needs of immigrants, with government information bu- 
reaus. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What are the special needs of immigrants? 

How are these special needs at present being met in our 
community? 

Should immigrants be subjected to more surveillance than 
other groups within the community? 

In what ways are immigrants in our community directly 
assisted toward citizenship? 

In our experience, have there been instances of immigrants 
being hindered in their steps toward citizenship? 

Do we agree as to the need of government information bu- 
reaus? What should be their functions and limitations? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


European Immigrants 


Our present foreign-born population is about 17,000,000 and 
there are some 20,000,000 more of immediate foreign extraction. 

Approximately one-fourth of all the children in the United 
States live in the homes of the foreign-born, as the birth rate 
is everywhere higher among the foreign-born than among the 
native stock. 

The percentage of foreign-born farmers is greater than that 
of the native-born in a number of our states. 

The foreign-language press in America includes some 15,000 
publications with a circulation of 8,000,000 copies and with a 
reading public of possibly 16,000,000. 

The full participation in the whole life of America on the 


111 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


part of all the people in America demands the removal of 
every barrier erected by a sensational race consciousness and 
the creation of a new American national consciousness. 

To be great a nation does not need to be of one blood, but 
it must be of one mind. Unity of spirit is of more importance 
than unity of race—World Survey. Vol. No. 1. Interchurch 
World Movement. American volume. 1920. 


Adjusting Immigrant and Industry, by William M. Leiserson. 
Harper and Brothers. 


The book is a discussion of the immigrant-in-industry prob- 
lem by an author well fitted for the task by reason of his 
wide experience in the clothing trade, an industry confronted 
perhaps more than any other with the necessity for adjust- 
ment between the foreign-born worker and American industry. 

Mr. Leiserson points out that “the first task of the immi- 
grant is to root himself in the economic life of the country, 
that he may derive life and nourishment in the new land.” 
This he must do without adequate aid or guidance and sub- 
ject to all manner of exploitation. And this exploitation has 
far reaching effects not only upon the individual immigrant 
but upon the whole problem of Americanization, for these 
experiences are vitally affecting immigrant mind and char- 
acter. ‘Unfavorable experiences, unemployment, exploitation 
by labor agents, abuse by foremen and employers, poverty and 
low standards will make him [the immigrant] antagonistic to 
things American and cause him to idealize his old home. For 
he sees in the injustices which he often suffers at the hands 
of employers, trade unions, government officials, labor agents, 
and boarding house keepers, not the criminality of irrespon- 
sible individuals, but the acts of the American nation. ‘He 
thinks these are the ways of American life which he must 
learn. It is the ‘American Game,’ a phrase commonly used 
by immigrants.” 

In conclusion Mr. Leiserson suggests a comprehensive na- 
tional policy for adequately adjusting immigrant and industry, 
one with two distinct branches—(1) admission, i.e., the for- 
eign immigration policy, (2) Americanization, i.e., the domes- 
tic policy for immigrants. The latter would be effected through 
a United States immigration commission including a division 
of industrial relations, charged, among other things, with the 
duty to study and help toward the solution of problems inher- 
ing in training of immigrant labor, labor management of im- 
migrant employes, and trade-union policies with respect to 
immigrants. 


112 


MEETING THE IMMIGRANT’S NEED 


Americans by Choice, by John Palmer Gavit. Harper and 
Brothers. 1922. 

New Homes for Old, by Sophia P. Breckinridge. Harper 
and Brothers. 1921. 

Culture and Democracy in the United States, by Horace M. 
Kallen. Boni and Liveright. 1924. 

The Russian Immigrant, by Jerome Davis. Macmillan. 1922. 

Civics for Coming Americans, by Peter Roberts. Association 
Bress..* 1922. 

Citizenship Instruction, by H. I. Schermerhorn. United States 
Department of Labor. 1923. . 

The Immigrant’s Day in Court, by K. H. Claghorn. Harper 
and Brothers. 1923. 


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PART V 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 





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CHAPTER XXXI 


CAN BARRIERS BETWEEN NATIONS 
BE REMOVED? 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into international rela- 
tions means: The removal of every unjust barrier of 
trade, color, creed, and race, and the practice of equal 
justice for all nations. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What do we regard as some unjust barriers of trade, color, 
creed, raceP 


Is a high tariff upon imported goods an unjust barrier of 
trade? How does it promote the practice of equal justice 
for all nations? 


Is our present immigration law an unjust barrier? Against 
what races or creeds? Why? 


How must we work to change international policies of our 
government? 


What policies should be changed now so as to remove 
unjust barriers and to make actual the practice of equal justice 
for all nations? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


The Exclusion of Asiatics 


The Asiatic exclusion section of the Immigration Law of 
1924 has created an international situation that causes us 
grave concern. The manner of its enactment, the abrupt abro- 
gation of the ““Gentlemen’s Agreement” without the conference 
requested by Japan, the insistence on a discriminatory law 
which Asiatics resent as humiliating, unjust and unchristian, 
and the affront to Japan’s prestige as one of the great and 
equal nations of the world, have combined to wound and 
grieve a friendly nation. 


117 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Many expressions of resentment and of disappointment in 
the idealism, brotherhood, and good will of America have 
come from India and China as well as from Japan. While 
Asiatics know and say that nothing they can do can change 
the situation or the law, they repeatedly declare their trust 
in the sense of justice which many of them still believe in- 
heres in the American people and their confidence that the 
American people will ultimately set this matter right. 


In view of the foregoing . . . we are impelled to record 
our convictions: 


1. That the dictates of humanity and the welfare of the 
world demand the recognition by all governments of the 
brotherhood of mam and the inherent right of all nations and 
races to treatment free from humiliation. 


2. That the United States cannot afford to override the 
principle of essential human equality embedded in the Declar- 
ation of Independence. 


3. That no nation can afford needlessly to flout and wound 
the feelings of other nations and peoples. 


4. That the maintenance of justice, humanity, courtesy and 
good will between the peoples of the Far West and the Far 
East is essential to the permanent peace of the Pacific and 
of the world. 


5. That we recognize the need of restriction of immigration 
in order to conserve American standards of labor and living. 


6. That Asiatics in the United States should be accorded 
their rights as human beings and also the rights to which 
they are entitled by the letter and the spirit of the treaties 
under which they came to the United States. 


7. That, in the words of former Ambassador Woods this 
action of Congress referred to above was an international 
catastrophe. 


8. That we see at present no better solution of the problem 
than the application to Japan, China, and India of the quota 
law as it comes into force in 1927 which would result in the 
annual admission of 350 immigrants from those three sections 
of the Orient.—Resolution of the Executive Committee of the 
Federal Council of Churches. December 11, 1925. 


118 


CAN BARRIERS BETWEEN NATIONS BE REMOVED? 


Bigness of Organization and the Freedom 
of the Individual 

There is a sense in which the vastest problem by which 
we are faced is the very scale of the life we are attempting 
to live. Its bigness tends to obscure the real merits of real 
freedom. And, indeed, there is industrially abroad a certain 
suspicion of liberty against which safeguards must be erected. 
The individual suffers absorption by the immensity of the 
forces with which he is in contact. . . . There are few of 
that energy of the soul which Aristotle thought the secret of 
happiness. There is little work that offers the opportunity 
of conscious and systematic thought. Responsibility tends to 
coagulate at a few centers of social life; so that the work of 
most is the simple commission of orders it is rarely their busi- 
ness to reflect upon. We are clearly tending to be overawed 
by our institutions; and we perceive . . . a genuine danger 
lest we lose hold of that chiefest source of happiness. Clerks 
and teachers and tenders of machines, for each of them there 
is prescribed a routine that fills the most eager hours of life, 
dare not be asked for the effort upon which new thought is 
founded. An expert in the science of factory management 
has even assumed that for the purpose of productivity a man 
“who more nearly resembles in his mental makeup the ox 
than any other type” is desirable. Happiness in work, which 
can alone be fruitful of advance in thought is, as Mr. Wallas 
has noted, a phrase for most practically without meaning. 
The problem today, as the problem at the time of the French 
Revolution, is the restoration of man to his place at the center 
of social life. That is, indeed, the real significance of free- 
dom. It alone enables the individuality of men to become 
manifest.—A uthority in the Modern State, by Harold Laski. 
Yale University Press. 


Races, Nations and Classes, by Herbert Adolphus Miller. Lip- 

pincott. 1924. 

Professor Miller has undertaken to interpret the perplexing 
problems of race relationship, class prejudice and international 
ill-will, upon the basis of psychology, making use particularly 
of psychoanalytic methods. He finds that interracial and inter- 
class prejudice and conflict are not so much the expression 
of individual attitudes as. of group feeling and thinking. He 
distinguishes between what may be called vertical group rela- 


119 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


tionships and horizontal group relationships. As examples of 
the former we have groups bound together as members of the 
same race, same religion or the same nation. As examples 
of horizontal grouping we have capital and labor, bourgeois 
and proletariat, and other familiar class distinctions. 

Our difficulties are largely due to the competition between 
groups leading to attempts at domination of one group by 
another. This gives rise to an “oppression psychosis’”—“per- 
sistent and exaggerated mental states which are characteris- 
tically produced under conditions where one group dominates 
another.” From this arises a long line of social diseases— 
inferiority complexes, defense mechanisms and all the rest. 


International Economic Policies, by William Smith Culbertson. 

Appleton. 1925. 

Here is a valuable discussion of international economic 
problems by the former vice-chairman of United States Tariff 
Commission. Mr. Culbertson declares that “western material 
civilization has outrun social and governmental controls’ and 
stresses the need for “an adequate system of international law 
and perfected machinery for its administration and interpre- 
tation.” Commercial treaties, most-favored-nation treatment 
and the various aspects of tariff bargaining are thoroughly 
treated. “No really satisfactory international relations, no 
assured peace, can be established until all countries feel secure 
in the guaranty of equality of treatment in all the important 
markets of the world,’ says Mr. Culbertson. 


The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898- 
1925, by Moorfield Storey and Marcial P. Lichauco. Put- 
nam’s. 1926. 

Using as the background for their story a vivid picture of 
the struggle over Cuba, the stabilization of its government, 
and the occasion for intervention given to the United States 
in Spain’s treatment of the Cubans, the authors proceed with 
a history of the conquest of the Philippines by the United 
States. It is a story which will challenge or bewilder any- 
one who has taken American idealism as a matter of course. 


The Far East. The Annals of the American Academy of 
Political and Social Science, November, 1925. Twenty-five 
articles on various aspects. 

Asiatic Exclusion. Commission on International Justice and 
Good Will. Federal Council of Churches. 1925. Pamphlet. 

The Reestablishment of Right Relations with Japan, by Sidney 
L. Gulick. Commission on International Justice and Good 
Will. Federal Council of Churches. 1925. Pamphlet. 


120 


CHAPTER XXXII 


NATIONAL WEALTH AND WORLD 
RESPONSIBILITY 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into international rela- 
tions means: The administration of the property and 
privileges within each country so that they will be of 
the greatest benefit not only to that nation but to all 
the world. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What instances have we of administration of property and 
privileges which has benefited this country but has not ben- 
efited the world? . 

How does the setting up of a high standard of living in 
this country benefit the poor people of the Philippines ? 

What evidence have we of exploitation of smaller nations 
by people of large western nations? 

What evidence have we that in the administration of col- 
onies our government has or has not benefited the whole world? 

How can we determine or know when we make an invest- 
ment of money to be used or loaned abroad, whether it is to 
be of the greatest benfit, not only to us but also to the world? 

How has the rapidly increasing wealth of the people of the 
United States been used to bring the greatest benefit to the 
world as well as to us? 

What practices of ours and of our government need to 
be changed in order to achieve the ideal of the greatest bene- 
fit of all? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Privilege in the Pacific Area 


What is the problem of the Pacific? It was pointedly stated 
by the chief spokesman of China in his opening address at 
the Institute of Pacific Relations. “On the one hand we find 


121 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


a group of nations, mainly of the white race, which through 
one means or another have in past years secured certain priv- 
ileges, rights and territories from Eastern peoples. These they 
are very anxious to maintain as long as possible. On the 
other hand we find another group of nations in which the 
spirit of nationalism and racial consciousness is rapidly grow- 
ing and which are therefore anxious to recover what has been 
wrested from them in the past.” 

The alignment of the Eastern nations as against the Western 
nations seems to be developing with great rapidity. President 
Roosevelt declared in a passage quoted by Mr. F. C. Atherton 
of Honolulu: ‘I believe that our future will be more deter- 
mined by our position in the Pacific facing China than by our 
position facing Europe.’ Eastern nations are no longer the 
backward lands of fifty years ago. Japan’s rise has been 
meteoric. Her industrial activities, her universities, her army 
and navy bear comparison with those of any land. China is 
thrilling with national consciousness, but feeling the irksome- 
ness of bonds and treaties put upon her when she was weak.— 
Information Service, Federal Council of Churches. 


Self-Interest in International Trade 


The problems of international commerce are discussed edi- 
torially in World’s Work for September, 1925. The statement 
is made that at the recent meeting of the International Cham- 
ber of Commerce, the delegates from the different countries 
saw only “those aspects of international polity which would 
benefit their own nation.’ 

Such meetings are chiefly valuable as a mera for the 
development of ‘the art of friendly commercial intercourse 
and rivalry.” As yet the principle of immediate self-interest 
is the only one followed in international trade. “Any large 
improvement in commercial relations is more likely to be. 
based upon principle than upon present practice, because at 
present any government that should compromise with immedi- 
ate gain would be dubbed unpatriotic.” é 


The Wealth of the Nations 


The National City Bank of New York has made a compila- 
tion of what appear to be the most authoritative estimates 


122 


NATIONAL WEALTH AND WORLD RESPONSIBILITY 


available of the wealth of the principal nations of the world, 
at intervals during the last half century. The following table 
gives the result: (Blank spaces indicate that no data are 
available). 

In Million Dollars 


1922 1912 1890 1870 
United States ..... 320,803 186,299 65,037 30,069 
United Kingdom ... 88,840 79,297 535352 40,000 
BeE NCE Wile cd on sit 67,710 57,075 43,799 33.092 
Ceeriianyst., ok 35,700 77,783 49,500 38,000 
Malmgiatae, eo 25,986 23,030 9,733 7,300 
Sei ines AE... 29,319 11,193 10,512 


This indicates that the wealth of the United States increased 
almost eleven times between 1870 and 1922, that of Great 
Britain a little more than doubled, that of France doubled. 


Wealth and Bonded Slaves for Progress 


The radical doctrines of capitalism find adequate expression 
in the following editorial emanation from Commerce and 
Finance: “As the world slips into 1925 we have all become 
—every one of us—the owners of hundreds of millions of 
able-bodied serfs. We have a mortgage on the lives of both 
the living and the unborn in practically every nation of 
Europe except Russia. We shall have, if not gold pouring in, 
then its equivalent in merchandise. Each of us can hope to 
have more to spend. With such wealth we can hope to do 
two things. We can waste it, individually, as every great 
empire has finally wasted its resources in the past; or else, 
utilizing the modern invention called capitalism, we can mass 
it in ways that will enable us . . . to remold the entire world 
nearer to the heart’s desire. With money—and the labor of 
bonded slaves.” There you have it in a nut-shell, and with 
the exultation of an enthusiast. Just as popes and emperors 
once gathered power, and just as imperial powers rounded up 
the “lesser breeds” and took “a mortgage on the lives of both 
the living and the unborn,” so now “with money and the labor 
of bonded slaves” we can utilize “that modern invention, called 
capitalism” (God be praised!), to “remold the entire world 
nearer to the heart’s desire.”—Editorial in the Christian Cen- 
tury, April 9, 1925, 


123 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 
Do Tariffs Violate Christian Ideals? 


The moral argument against the protective tariff might be 
summarized thus: First, it needlessly raises prices to the con- 
sumer of domestic goods. All arguments to the contrary are 
meaningless. If it can be shown that in any given case a 
protective tariff does not have this effect, one of two things is 
proved thereby—either the effect is present but is concealed by 
a general price movement which overshadows it, or the tariff 
is quite without economic significance with reference to the 
purposes for which it was enacted. 

Secondly, wherever a tariff wall is effective in “protecting” 
home industries it tends toward monopoly. The history of the 
iron and the textile industries in this country furnishes abun- 
dant illustration of this fact. Assuming that a high tariff en- 
ables certain domestic manufacturers whose costs are rela- 
tively high to keep comfortably on the market when they would 
otherwise be crowded off, it follows that those who were mak- 
ing a good profit without the aid of the tariff are afforded 
by the impost a premium—clear “velvet.” 

Thirdly, the protective tariff is at best a purely nationalistic, 
“safety first” device. It capitalizes the advantages of one na- 
tion at the expense of the rest of the world—Do Tariffs Vio- 
late Christian Ideals? by F. Ernest Johnson. The Christian 
Century, January 10, 1924. 


Causes of International War, by G. Lowes Dickinson. Har- 
court, Brace and Company. 


124 


CHAPTER XXXIII 


POISONED NEWS 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into international rela- 
tions means: Discouragement of all propaganda tending 
to mislead peoples in their international relations or to 
create prejudice. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What methods are used in newspapers and other journals 
to mislead and prejudice us? 

Do we know how to read news critically so as to try to 
detect misleading propaganda? How should we go about it? 

Should we view the acts of all people objectively and im- 
partially? 

Should we judge official news of our government in the same 
manner and by the same methods as we judge that of other 
governments? How about statements by officials of the gov- 
ernment? 

How do we get our news about other countries? 

What makes up our minds about other countries? 

Do history text-books tend to create prejudice in the minds 
of children in favor of their own country and against other 
countries ? 

Should history text-books be written as impartially and sci- 
entifically as possible, solely with a view to presenting events 
accurately? 

How can we be assured of impartial history texts? 

What new methods do we need in order to be informed 
about the events of the day? 


What is the function of the daily newspaper? 
How must we supplement it in order to be informed? 


125 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Propaganda and the Press 


The press in America . . . a great problem. Mr. Walter 
Lippman in Liberty and the News shows that the first issue of 
the first newspaper printed in the United States was written 
“toward curing that spirit of lying that prevails amongst us.” 
It was immediately suppressed. But never was there greater 
need of the spirit of truth than in America today. The very 
life of democracy depends upon publicity and the press is one 
of the major channels of publicity. Mr. Frank I. Cobb, the 
editor of the New York World, shows the evil effect of the 
war upon the press: “For five years there has been no true 
play of public opinion in the world. Multitudes have been 
willing to die for their country but not to think for it.’ Out 
of all the ‘troubled areas of the world streams of propaganda 
are converging upon us. The world war has long victimized 
both sides by a distorted propaganda. 

The race riots in Omaha, Washington, and elsewhere were 
stirred up by the propaganda of the ptess. General Wood 
upon his arrival in Omaha showed that one of the first steps 
to law and order was the suppression of a “rotten press” which | 
had been fomenting race hatred for weeks. 

One living in the foul atmosphere of a stifling room soon 
ceases to be aware of the poison which is benumbing his senses. 
Probably many of us have never recognized the menace of our 
public press. A student recently won an oratorical contest on 
the press as a “Maker of Wars.” He might have added “Maker 
of Crime.” Barring certain shining exceptions, how many 
cities in the United States can be found today where the press 
is giving adequately the world’s news and only “the news that’s 
fit to print” without the vulgar, criminal or sensational. If you 
take Chicago and all the cities of the middle west dependent 
upon it, you have a newspaper claiming to be the greatest on 
earth which is throughout typified by its motto “Right or wrong, 
my country” not of course that right matters particularly! The 
only alternative to this morning paper is one of the Hearst 
papers, in that stream of poisoned yellow journalism that now 
stretches throughout America from coast to coast; that would 
drag us on the one hand into war with England, on the other 


126 


POISONED NEWS 


into war with Japan, and on the south into war with Mexico. 
These are the alternatives of reading matter presented in the 
morning papers to the people of that great crime-infested city 
of Chicago. How far is such a press responsible for these 
disgraceful conditions of hold-ups, automobile bandits, wide- 
spread divorce and crime? . 

When Mr. Seebohm Rowntree was touring in this country, 
he was asked by a leading newspaper man what he thought of 
the American press. He tried, out of courtesy, to avoid a 
reply, but when forced to give a frank answer he stated his 
opinion of the press in America today as “damnably rotten.” 
Did he speak the truth, or have we been breathing this poi- 
soned atmosphere so long that we have ceased to realize it? 

The Associated Press and other news services are not in- 
dependent organizations feeding news to their clients, but sim- 
ply interrelated newspapers exchanging materials. The Den- 
ver newspapers control all the news that is read in the country 
about the Colorado coal mines. The Boston newspapers con- 
trol all the news that is read in San Francisco about the New 
England textile mills—Reprinted from America, Her Problems 
and Perils, by Sherwood Eddy, by permission of George H. 
Doran Company. Pamphlet. 


How Shall We Overcome Ignorance and Misfortune? 
THE GROWTH OF A Press LEGEND 


Cologne Zeititéng (Germany): “When the fall of Antwerp 
got known the church bells were rung.” (Meaning in Germany.) 

The Matin (Paris): “According to the Cologne Zeitung, the 
clergy of Antwerp were compelled to ring the church bells 
when the fortress was taken.” 

The Times (London): “According to what The Matin has 
heard from Cologne, the Belgian priests who refused to ring 
the church bells when Antwerp was taken have been driven 
away from their places.” 

The Corriere della Sera (Milan, Italy): “According to what 
The Times has heard from Cologne via Paris, the unfortunate 
Belgian priests who refused to ring the church bells when 
Antwerp was taken have been sentenced to hard labor.” 

The Matin (Paris): “According to information to the Cor- 
riere della Sera from Cologne via London, it is confirmed that 


127 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


the barbaric conquerors of Antwerp punished the unfortunate 
Belgian priests for their heroic refusal to ring the church bells 
by hanging them as living clappers to the bells with their 
heads down.” 


The return to “traditions of candour” promised by the 
Cologne Gazette has been as difficult for the press as a re- 
turn to normal conditions in other fields has been difficult. 


How Can We Distinguish Truth from Propaganda? 


In War Time. It is of course true, as most well-informed 
people now understand, that the Rathom disclosures which made 
The Providence Journal famous during the war were fiction— 
but Rathom did all this for the praiseworthy purpose of arous- 
ing his countrymen to a war fury. He took one of the practi- 
cal ways of doing so. When pressed by the Department of 
Justice with the realities in the matter, he blandly asked if 
the Germans were not doing things similar to those which he 
had pictured. And on getting an affirmative reply, he an- 
swered: “What was the harm then in giving the people an 
equivalent of the reality?” His idea was that fiction cognate 
to the facts would serve an entirely justifiable purpose . 
This is all a part of the war game and will be as long as war 
lasts as a means of settling disputes. . . . Mr. Rathom, an 
intrepid journalist of originality and force, merely “played the 
game.”—An editorial in The Boston Herald, December 30, 1923. . 


In Peace Time. In order to discredit the Bolsheviks, a promi- 
nent American professor not long ago decided to send out “the 
nationalization of women story” to every fraternal club in 
America. He was told by a reliable informant that “the story 
was a fabrication and had been totally disproved in Russia, 
that William Allen White has declared that no one now pre- 
tends there is any basis of truth in the story whatever, and 
that the American government has officially denied it.” 


“Oh, well,’ the professor replied, “the story is bad, and the . 
Bolsheviks are bad, so it can’t do any harm. We'll just send 
it out anyway.’ The professor has since been appointed to a 
responsible diplomatic post in our foreign service.—Christian 
Fellowship Among the Nations, by Jerome Davis and Roy B. 
Chamberlin. The Pilgrim Press. A Discussion Course. 


128 


POISONED NEWS 


A National Peace Department, by Kirby Page. From the 
author at 347 Madison Avenue, New York. Pamphlet. 
America and Japan. ‘The Commission on International Justice 
and Good Will. Federal Council of Churches. Brief 
answers to 20 questions giving facts bearing on popular 
misinformation. 

The Adulteration and Poisoning of the News, by Jerome 

Davis. From the author, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, 
Conn. Pamphlet. 

The Power of the Press for Peace and War. National Coun- 
cil for Prevention of War. An Important Pamphlet. 


129 


CHAPTER XXXIV 


THE DOLLAR AND THE FLAG 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into international rela- 
tions means: The replacement of selfish imperialism by 
such disinterested treatment of backward nations as to 
contribute the maximum to the welfare of each nation 
and of all the world. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


Has the government of the United States practiced selfish 
imperialism? Where? How? 

Has selfish imperialism been practiced, for instance, in the 
Philippines? What evidence have we? 

Has selfish imperialism been practiced, for instance, in the 
West Indies? In Central America? ’ 

What evidence have we that the government of the United 
States is “disinterested” in its policy of holding the Philip- 
pines? In its policy in Cuba? In its policy in Porto Rico? 
In its policy in Haiti and San Domingo? 

What is involved in “disinterested treatment’? 

How can we be sure that “disinterested treatment” of back- 
ward nations is going on? 

Is international supervision of backward nations likely to 
be better than national supervision? How should this be car- 
ried on? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


American Imperialism 


The future of American imperialism is discussed by Ray- 
mond Leslie Buell of Harvard University, in the October, 1925, 
Yale Review. The United States has recently lost the friend- 
ship of most of the world, says Mr. Buell, through her foreign 
debt policy, the Japanese exclusion act, etc. The world today 
is moving toward compulsory arbitration of international dis- 
putes but the United States, though urging voluntary arbitra- 


130 


THE DOLLAR AND THE FLAG 


tion, has always refused to accept compulsory arbitration. 
Though several treaties providing for compulsory arbitration 
have been drawn up none of them has been accepted by the 
Senate. In the arbitration treaties which the United States 
now has with other countries questions of vital interest to the 
contracting states are not to be submitted to arbitration. But 
the decision as to which are “vital interests” rests with the 
individual country. The United States has steadily insisted 
that such “domestic questions’ as the Monroe Doctrine, immi- 
gration and the territorial integrity of the United States can- 
not be arbitrated. 


“Oleaginous Diplomacy” 


These words are from the title of a pamphlet by Edward M. 
Earle of Columbia University, published by the Academy of 
Political Science (reprinted from the June, 1924, Quarterly). 
It is a discussion of the relation of petroleum to diplomacy. 
The author reminds the reader that in 1920, Secretary of State 
Colby warned the British Government that “the fact cannot 
be ignored that the reported resources of Mesopotamia have 
interested public opinion in the United States as a potential 
subject of international strife.” 

Mr. Earle propounds some questions with reference to the 
participation of the government in such matters: 

“Ts it the business of the American Department of State so 
actively to concern itself with the ventures of American pe- 
troleum companies in the four corners of the earth? In par- 
ticular, is it the business of the Department of State to paddle 
in Mesopotamian oil? Even more important, is there any ad- 
vantage to be gained by the promotion of these so-called na- 
tional interests which will not be more than offset by possible 
friction between the American and British peoples? How can 
the United States expect European Powers to recognize the 
economic implications of the Monroe Doctrine if the United 
States is unwilling to recognize that European Powers have 
their particular spheres of interest? If the principle of the 
open door and of equality of economic opportunity is to be a 
contribution to international peace, it must be honestly applied. 
And it will not be honestly applied if it is compromised for 
the achievement of a temporary national advantage or if its 


131 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


advantages are acquired without its responsibilities being 
recognized.” : 


Imperialism. and Nationalism, by Kirby Page. Doran, 1925. 
Pamphlet. 


The part of the book which has most immediate interest for 
American readers is the latter half, in. which the author treats 
historically the territorial expansion of the United States. His 
thesis, however—that nationalism and imperialism, and even 
religion, have been woven into a complex that produces inter- 
minable hatred, oppression and war—is set forth in the account 
of Near East politics to which the earlier part of the book is 
devoted. 


Dollar Diplomacy, by Scott Nearing and Joseph Freeman. 
The Viking Press, 1925. 


Tracing first the economic background of our imperialism— 
our economic position, wealth, importation of raw materials, 
foreign markets, etc—the authors come on to a consideration 
of “American Imperialism in Action.” Intense, restless, seem- 
ingly resistless action it is, involving the development of spheres 
of influence in China and the Near East; of political “regula- 
tion” in Hawaii, Panama, Mexico; of armed intervention in 
the Caribbean countries; of the “acquisition without annexa- 
tion” of Cuba, “the sugar bowl of the world”; of the conquest 
of the Philippines, and the purchase of the Virgin Islands; of 
our new relations with Eusopean countries since the war. In 
a final section the growth of our imperial policy is briefly but 
comprehensively surveyed. 


American Foreign Investments, by Robert W. Dunn. Viking 
Press. 1925. 

A Defense of Imperialism. Information Service, Federal 
Council of Churches, March 28, 1925. 

Diplomacy and Finance. Information Service, Federal Coun- 
cil of Churches, August 23, 1924. 


132 


CHAPTER XXXV 


HOW MUCH ARMAMENT? 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into international rela- 
tions means: The abolition of military armaments by 
all nations except for an internal police force. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What data are there in regard to the amount of armaments 
in the world? 

What is the cost of maintaining these armaments? 

Do we agree that they are usually many times more than 
would be needed for an internal police force? 

Do we agree with the sentiment expressed in the statement? 

How should such abolition of military armaments be sought? 

How can the nations be persuaded to act upon the matter? 


Who should determine the amount of armament needed by a 
nation for an internal police force? 


By what method can we and other churches hasten the re- 
duction of armaments? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 
What Wars Are Costing Today 


In answer to the frequent inquiry as to what the various 
nations are’ spending on war preparations we publish below 
the most authoritative data that can be assembled on the sub- 
ject at this time. The appropriations, expressed in the mone- 
tary units of the respective countries, were furnished by the 
Statistics Branch of the War Department of the United States. 
These units have been converted into American dollars by one 
of the leading banking houses of New York. They are in some 
cases approximations because in these instances no recent 
transactions have occurred by which the values might be defi- 
nitely fixed. 


133 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


MILITARY BUDGETS 


Country Year i Total 

Albaniias in sar sett aie eee ae PEP Aa See Pee Rp oe $ 1,017,229 
ATgenting ss risom ecco tee ee 1 OZAN A asdctss cde ine lel a eee 89,826,318 
Australia tei tears. ce tenes OAL Ye RS ravctNe, cela tee eee ee 16,150,770 
Acusty 1a bien Aa: ee totincds Ses eae 1924: Es 5 ee ll a ee 7,857,142 
Belzium), (Pirie eee eee 1O24 © Ee. Riek De. eee 24,562,629 
Bolrviavateee ote ere ee eae ar FLD SANS: i cle sate chee ee re nn tees 2,958,285 
Brazil tive, 34 o04e ah bee & cee 1 OFA AS. cs key aie See a ee a 26,818,347 
DULG aT laa. Wath cnec Mec beens ekcse rte DOD Ai io ct cuane, « sueteredecd s Cre Mentone 1,134,000 
Ganadariers sree. eae 1924 wise) ceca’ «aie oe 24 Rr 12,801,737 
Chile, <FSat SR ee a ee 1ODS By, teins Sale nee eee 16,125,439 
Colombia’ eae sete ene TODA bes so b ahaa, oe eee eee 2,986,123 
Costa pecs puny ces ne LOZ Ac. vs, nya) ay 8:30 enade Borage a cay sae 130,264 
GUS: tas tude ae k Lee LOA ce Fekete «tobe a chicane foal aie Oe 10,959,799 
Czecho-Slovakia 3,25 sae. eas 1924 IT...) ed hon VaR a ee 68,999 
Denn arker sy Rue Aisa one ee A ODZAY ihe cs she aisles eonteusl serosal eens 10,680,000 
WM Guador Aig o824.)cthe9 AOa Re eee LOFA Sid. « cvdale vineetedde aoe 2,720,846 
Msthonia te een. wie dectohet 1923 ages cies capsules io eee eee 4,844,036 
Finland) Setanta ee LOQAY ie ehese cre oh aan ee 10,395,000 
BP anceig tug cate tes | eee cake LO24 i043 oe due die, onus le oneneen a 220,403,601 
Germanye yor sta oe ee ee 1024 EI. Sets oes ok ee eee 107,100,000 
Great Britaingsiste eee oes LO DAT. ven ste aes, acres 5 laa deena 652,696,789 
Greece's goaxciie bot ee LOA Ue tenslete ois acct oo oe ee 40,567,814 
Guatemalan” 7." op eiranrs eet, LOQAL NAS GS Rake ee eee 1,584,247 
PEAT tia Pearse Cet ye ee ree LODE ec. tat eee Eee 1,045,310 
Honduras}, Sst wae, Bee Pe LODE AL a Te eae 2,173,543 
HoT g avin es fee eee) ek LOD. axere deuchawd ehitie canes 2,629,015 
Indigpaecc oe ee eee 19238 0% REDS ee ee eee 182,500,000 
Ata dys ee Sa erage eke Oe OL) Ome LO ZA: ats os clea athens) o Ae ee 117,093,411 
SAD ATI GE eee. cee hale ee ticnle 1s LOAM \ 5. Reiced ote eauteke sete Cee aoe re 17,683,300 
Juroslaviaase. oe iish Ain ck ie LOZ 4 gale chekg¥s avout sehr ty eae 39,120,020 
Latvia Bons ciotiac ce ean eee 1924. Piveus. a, Ue Ruezsaciteacaeree renee 5,605,365 
Dithuanial:cetemyn ese eee 1928) RSE Ae Sah 5,176,682 
Mexitogt ta) Aes a eee eee 1923 ti. pee oe cee eee eee 63,238,095 
IWetherlands te + hace eee: TODA Meieaiets @ tacts iat Pee ee 42,405,500 
INICBT AGUA be fore i nee ee ae 1928 2 &..<:6 3: See eee 145,827 
NOrWaly seis ete tee Se eee LODE Ris s's «a ee ee 8,311,776 
Paraguay ®, Selecta oto ee 1923. te eals eee cere eee 470,252 
Periute le. Fee eee ae, ae een 1924s Es Re ae eee 5,721,525 
Roland Shak. c cee setae aes WL ODA aks pare ate oeire ee eee 85,102,964 
Rortacal ine Lee opie Bee ee 1924 V sices, patched his ake 11,154,866 
RGUMST Tae eee es Eee 192 8 isc ohetiaha ake ice See ae ee 17,873,503 
Russigvee hes oa oniee saa. ee oe 1923 | aes hitter eda hee eee 105,752,070 
PAlVAdOiae eae. Aes Pe ee 19246 OR Ele ane 2 ene on 664,205 
santo’ Domingoratini.. eee 1924 Aero. HS eae S936. P1245827 
SDAM leds eke fel i ae ted 192 4 pe At. yectestde a: antes nied nada 76,601,243 
SWedente. te. ck ieee cake ae ORY 72: Be AAR PERS SAPO Oe 40,012,400 
Switzerland: Fosse see ee 1924) GOD Oe ko oe ee 15,733,361 
aaurkeysh +, ster tah Me vtec boc 1.92.4 io) coh etunsaveutiae aie aoa ee 24,340,880 
United Statesams view eaaen ae 1924. cao. ck ee re ee 554,372,018 
Urugciiayii siti, See. ie Alia 1924) 5. Sb OREO AD eee ne 7,027,556 
wMenezuclawe.0.4. "ii dnc hy gee 2 N24 i attieae s Seam Ae me eee 2,400,000 


(Minor fractions of cents have been dropped in the compu- 
tations. They may be taken, however, as substantially accu- 
rate.)—Information Service, Federal Council of Churches, July 
18, 1925. 

134 


HOW MUCH ARMAMENT? 


The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps 


Military Training in High Schools and Colleges in the United 
States is the title of an informing pamphlet by Winthrop D. 
Lane, a well-known writer and investigator. This study of 
the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (R. O. T. C., as it is 
commonly known) was sent out in 1925 with a foreword urg- 
ing the abolition of all military training in high schools and 
of compulsory military training in colleges. The foreword is 
signed by 58 persons of prominence including several United 
States senators, college professors, ministers, editors, etc. 

Mr. Lane explains that the military training described in 
the pamphlet is “encouraged, supervised and regulated by the 
War Department ... to make soldiers.” The courses used, 
and the time devoted to it are prescribed by the War Depart- 
ment, which also provides the instructors and the necessary 
equipment. 

During 1924-1925 there were R. O. T. C. units in 124 colleges 
and universities, 63 high schools and 39 military schools. 
Practically all the state agricultural colleges and most of the 
state universities have R. O. T. C. units, as have many tech- 
nical schools and some of the best-known colleges of the country. 

Copies of the pamphlet may be secured from Committee on 
Military Training, 387 Bible House, Astor Place, New York. 


Military Training in American High Schools and Colleges. 
The Case For and Against. By William I. Hull. World 
Alliance for International Friendship Through the Churches. 
1926. Pamphlet. 


135 


CHAPTER XXXVI 


SHALL THE CHURCH BLESS WAR? 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into international rela- 
tions means: That the church of Christ as an institution 
should not be used as an instrument or an agency in 
the support of war. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


Has it been customary for the church of Christ to support 
the government in time of war? 

Do we understand by the section of the statement above that 
an individual member of the church may support or oppose 
war in accordance with the dictates of his conscience, but that 
the church as an organization should not be used in support 
of war? 

Is this a proper distinction? 

Does this mean that the church should not assist in recruit- 
ing, in the securing of wealth to support war, or to create 
sentiment in favor of war? 

Would this be done in our church next week if war should be 
declared ? 

What should be the:relation of church to the state? 

What do we as individuals feel about war as a method of 
settling international dispute? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 


Churches as “Sellers of War’ 


In an article in The Family for May, 1926, John R. Brown, 
general secretary of the United Charities of St. Paul, makes 
this significant reference to the views of former Secretary 
Lane in regard to the influence of the churches in selling the 
world war to the country: “The churches, according to Secre- 
tary Lane, were the most direct and efficient of the agencies 
used during the war to create public sentiment and to adver- 


136 


SHALL THE CHURCH BLESS WAR? 


tise the Liberty Loans, to aid in recruiting and to put over the 
great appeal of war benevolences. According to him, but for 
the churches the war would not have been sold to the country 
communities, villages, and small towns of the United States.” 


Catholic Teaching on War and Peace 


An interesting article on the position of the Roman Catholic 
Church in regard to war, by Frederick Siedenberg, S.J., Loyola 
University, Chicago, is published in the American Journal of 
Sociology for November. It is thus summarized in the Journal: 

“The Catholic Church down through the ages has taken a 
stand midway between professional militarism and absolute 
pacificism. Virtus stat in medio has its application in this as 
in most other practical matters. While propounding by preach- 
ment and by precept the ideal of universal charity and mutual 
tolerance in thought and deed, she has not failed to recognize 
the individual’s inalienable right to vigorous self-defense. 
Likewise, the church recognizes and clearly defines the duty of 
the state—which is organized for society and not vice-versa— 
to protect its people and their interests by upholding the ade- 
quate sanctions of law and order. The right of sanctuary, the 
‘Peace of God,’ the ‘Truce of God,’ and many laws regulating 
warfare are among the concrete achievements of the church in 
preventing or in mitigating the horrors of war. So, too, must 
be counted the efforts of the many popes from early times down 
to the present day, who have raised their voices to protest 
against international hatreds and injustices, to mediate in such 
crises, and to lend their efforts to prevent wars. An approach 
. tc the reign of peace and good will on earth will come only 
through® an observance of the doctrines which were promul- 
gated and taught by the church’s Founder, the Prince of Peace. 

“All attempts to outlaw war have failed and always will 
fail, except those efforts which proceed from a recognition of, 
and a living in conformity with the laws of ethics and right 
moral principles. . . .” 


Message from a National Study Conference 


“The Church, the body of Christ all-inclusive—transcending 
race and national divisions—should henceforth oppose war, 
as a method of settling disputes between nations and groups 


137 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


as contrary to the spirit and principles of Jesus Christ, and 
should declare that it will not as a Church sanction war. 

“The Church should teach patriotic support of the State, but 
should never become the agent of the Government in any 
activity alien to the spirit of Christ. The Church should look 
to the responsible statesmen of a Christian country to conduct 
the public business along those lines of justice and reason which 
will not lead to war. 

“The Church should recognize the right and the duty of 
each individual to follow the guidance of his own conscience 
as to whether or not he shall participate in war. 

“War, whether aggressive or defensive, is the use of organ- 
ized violence in a dispute between nations or hostile groups. 
Even though one of the parties may be guiltless, it creates 
hatred, leads to unlimited loss of life and property, and always 
involves large numbers of innocent victims. In war the parties 
directly concerned seek to settle the issues involved by superior 
force regardless of justice. Usually war involves conscription 
of the individual conscience and a nation-wide propaganda of 
falsehood, suspicion, fear and hate. This is modern war in 
its nature and processes, as our generation has seen it, whether 
the war be fought for offensive or defensive purposes. War 
is thus the very antithesis of police force. Attention is called 
to the fact that a punitive expedition undertaken by one or 
more nations on their own initiative is essentially a war meas- 
ure, and not an exercise of international police force.”—The 
Declarations of the Study Conference on the Churches and 
World Peace, December, 1925. 


American Policy and International Security. The Annals of 
the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 
July, 1925. ; 

War: Its Causes, Consequences and Cure, by Kirby Page. 
Doran. 1923. Pamphlet. 

The Abolition of War, by Sherwood Eddy and Kirby Page. 
Doran. 1924. Pamphlet. 

The Church and International Relations. Report of Commis- 
sion IV to the Universal Christian Conference on Life and 
Work, American Committee of the Conference, 70 Fifth 
Avenue, New York. . 

Christianity and the State, by S. Parkes Cadman. Macmillan. 
1924. 


138 


SHALL THE CHURCH BLESS WAR? 


Facing the Crisis, by Sherwood Eddy. Doran. 1922. Chap- 
ter IV on the Ethics of War. 

Patriotism is Not Enough, by John H. Holmes. Greenberg, 
Ine 1925; 

International Problems and the Christian Way of Life. The 
Inquiry, 1923. Pamphlet Study Course. 


139 


CHAPTER XXXVII 


AN ORGANIZED WORLD 


Translating the ideals of Jesus into international rela- 
tions means: A permanent association of the nations for 
world peace and good will, the outlawry of war, and the 
settling of all differences between nations by confer- 
ence, arbitration, or by an international court. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


Do we agree as to the need of a permanent association of 
the nations for world peace and good will? 

What should its functions and activities be? 

What are some of the achievements of the League of Na- 
tions? . 

What have been some of its limitations and weaknesses? 

What is meant by the outlawry of war? 

Do we favor this? 

How should this be attained? 

Should our nations be willing to confer on every difference 
with another nation or nations? 

Should we be willing to submit to impartial arbitration any 
and everything not settled in conference? 

What functions can be performed by an international court? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 
The League at Work 


A comprehensive survey of the work of the League of Na- 
tions since its organization is given in the 1925 Yearbook of 
the League of Nations, recently issued by the World Peace 
Foundation. The Yearbook includes a description of the organi- 
zation of the League, its work, its duties under the treaties, 
organizations associated with the League, the text of the Cov- 
enant and of the Geneva Protocol, and the list of national 
representatives at Geneva. 

The work of the “technical organizations” for the study of 


140 


AN ORGANIZED WORLD 


special fields of international relations has resulted in 27 inter- 
national conventions which are already in force and 17 which 
have been ratified by some countries but still await the signa- 
tures of others. These treaties cover a wide variety of objects 
from the World Court protocol to identity certificates for 
Armenian and Russian refugees. Nine draft conventions drawn 
up by the technical organizations or their experts have also 
been recommended to the League of Nations for action. 

The work of the League may be classified under four heads: 
direct and voluntary relations with states; duties under the 
Covenant; the cooperation of states under the Covenant, and 
duties under treaties. An important part of the League’s work 
in dealing directly with states is the peaceable settlement of 
disputes. 

Among the disputes brought before it are the Swedish- 
Finnish dispute over the Aaland Islands, the boundary dispute 
between Poland and Lithuania, the administration of. Upper 
Silesia, the Albanian-Jugoslavy boundary dispute, the question of 
Czecho-Slovak-Polish frontier, the Greco-Italian dispute which 
led to the Italian occupation of Corfu, the administration of 
the territory of Memel, the question of autonomy for the Finns 
of Eastern Carelia, the frontier between Iraq and Turkey. In 
most of these cases the decision of the Council of the League 
was accepted. The Greco-Italian dispute was settled through 
the Conference of Ambassadors instead of the Council of the 
League. The Iraq question is not yet settled. Another part 
of the League’s work in direct relation with individual states 
is the registration of treaties entered into by members of the 
League of Nations. These are also published in a Treaty 
Series, which has now reached thirty-two volumes. 


Codifying International Law 


George W. Wickersham discussed the Geneva Conference 
on Progressive Codification of International Law in Inter- 
national Goodwill for May 7, 1925. He said in part: “For 
many years the general codification of international law has 
been advocated by various jurists. Some Codes actually have 
been prepared and published . . . but none of these Codes was 
ever accepted by governments. ... Meantime, many questions 
of international law have arisen and have been decided by the 


144 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Supreme Court of the United States as well as by high courts 
in other lands. 

“In this state of affairs the last Assembly directed the 
Council to call a meeting of qualified persons to consider and 
report what subjects of international law were ripe for present 
agreement among governments, and in this connection to take 
the opinion of those learned societies which had devoted them- 
selves to the study of the subject. 

“The Committee has no thought of attempting a compre- 
hensive codification at one bound. It contemplates the prepa- 
ration of a series of topics for international consideration, so 
that by degrees the law of nations may be made more certain, 
more easily ascertainable than it now is... . It has made a 
good beginning by establishing cordial relations among _ its 
members and by adopting the rule of patient, scholarly research 
and statement. Its hope is to make some progress which will 
commend itself to the judgment of thoughtful men.” 


Pamphlets of the Committee for the Outlawry of War, 76 
W. Monroe Street, Chicago, III. 

Outlawry of Wars: (A. Criticism), by Walter Lippman. 4Af- 
lantic Monthly, August, 1923. 

Shall the United States Enter the World Court? A debate 
between M. O. Hudson and John Dewey. The Christian 
Century, October 11 and 18, 1923. 

The Fourth Year of the Permanent Court of International 
Justice, by Manley O. Hudson. American Journal on 
International Law, January, 1926. 

America and the World Court, by Manley O, Hudson. The 
Margaret C. Peabody Fund, 1926. 

Suggested Outline for Teaching the World Court. The League 
of Nations Non-Partisan Association, 1926. Pamphlet. 
Essential Facts in Regard to the League of Nations, the World 
Court and the International Labor Organization. The 
League of Nations Non-Partisan Association, 1926. Pam- 

phlet. 

Pade bhire of the League of Nations Non-Partisan Association, 
6 East 39th Street, New York City. 

The Schools of the World and the League, a 1925 Survey. 
Cardiff, Wales. Welsh Council of the League of Nations. 
1926. Pamphlet. 

An American Peace Policy, by Kirby Page. Doran. 1925. 
Pamphlet. Contains a chapter on “Outlawry of War 
Through the World Court.” 


142 


CHAPTER XXXVIII 


HOW CAN THE CHURCH KNOW ITS 
COMMUNITY? 


We believe it is the duty of every church to investi- 
gate local moral and economic conditions as well as to 
know world needs. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What conditions in our community have the churches ever 
investigated? By what methods? Were the methods effective? 
What were the results? 

What moral and economic conditions in the past should 
have been investigated? 

What current situations should be. investigated by the 
churches ? 

Should the churches work together in investigating condi- 
tions? . 

What experience have we in this work? 

What experience elsewhere can guide us? 

Should the church employ trained technicians to make its 
investigations ? 

How should the results of investigations be used to get the 
most effective results? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 
One Investigation 


The Denver Tramway strike and controversy of 1920 in- 
volved the loss of the lives of seven persons and _ serious 
injuries to many others; the destruction of much valuable 
property; the demoralization of street railway service; the 
importation of armed strikebreakers; the intervention of Fed- 
eral troops and military rule for a month; the imprisonment 
of the seven members of the executive board of the union on a 
sentence of ninety days; the wrecking of the offices of a daily 
newspaper; the dislocation of more than a thousand of Denver’s 


143 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


workingmen, and their replacement by a new body of employ- 
ees; and a marked increase of industrial strife and bitterness. 

Recognizing a peculiar and common obligation in such an 
emergency, a group of church people of various religious faiths 
extended an invitation to the pastor, priest, or rabbi of every 
church in Denver to attend a meeting at the public library 
on the evening of August 16 and to bring with him a lay 
member of the church. At this meeting, attended by more than 
100 persons from over forty different churches, a commission 
of nine members was chosen by ballot to investigate and re- 
port the facts of the Tramway Strike. 

Communications were sent to the pastors of all the churches 
of Denver, informing them of the various resolutions, of the 
meetings held, and of the progress of the investigation. 

The commission was duly organized and selected the name 
of The Denver Commission of Religious Forces. It invited 
the cooperation of the Commission on the Church and Social 
Service of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in 
America, and the Department of Social Action of the National 
Catholic Welfare Council. These invitations were accepted, 
investigators were engaged, and the present report embodies 
the results of their work. 

The cost of the investigation was shared in part by the 
national church organizations, but largely by a small group of 
church members in Denver (about 26 in all), the amount raised 
being contributed from Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish sources. 

When the investigation was complete, the report was re- 
viewed, and an oral summary of the findings was presented to 
a third meeting of churchmen, at the Albany Hotel, on Satur- 
day, November 27, which was attended by one hundred and 
ten persons. This meeting requested the commission to prepare 
the report for publication and to secure for it the widest distri- 
bution. Early newspaper accounts were based upon this 
tentative draft. The public was then officially requested to 
withhold judgment until the report should be completed. Subse- 
quently to the above date much time has been spent in the 
work of reediting and condensing the report. While publica- 
tion has been necessarily delayed, we believe that the value of 
the report has been enhanced by the many suggestions and 
criticisms that have been received... . 


144 


HOW CAN THE CHURCH KNOW ITS COMMUNITY? 


This is the first time, as far as we are aware, that a group 
of churchmen of a community in which a serious industrial 
conflict was taking place, have on their own initiative en- 
deavored to ascertain the facts in an impartial way for the 
guidance of the churches and the community.—The Denver 
Tramway Strike of 1920. Report by Edward T. Devine, Ph.D.; 
Rev. John A. Ryan, D.D.; John A. Lapp, LL.D. Published 
October, 1921, by The Denver Commission of Religious Forces, 
Mrs. Ray S. David, secretary, 1206 Fifteenth Street, Denver. 


Surveying Your Community. A Handbook of Method for the 
Rural Church. By Edmund de S. Brunner. Doran. 1925. 
What Social Workers Should Know About Their Own Com- 
.munities, An Outline, by Margaret E. Byington. Russell 
Sage Foundation. 1924. Valuable for those engaged in 
‘«» religious and educational work also. 


145 


CHAPTER XXXIV 


DOES THE CHURCH FOLLOW JESUS? 


We believe that it is only as our churches themselves 
follow the example and spirit of Jesus in the fullest 
sense—translating these social ideals into the daily life 
of the church and the community—that we can ever 
hope to build the kingdom of God on earth. 


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


What practices of our church are at variance with the ideals 
of Jesus? 

In what respect should “the daily life of the church” as an 
institution be changed? 

Do church organizations generally practice what is urged 
in this Statement of Social Faith? 

Should they urge upon, e.g., nations, what they do not prac- 
tice themselves? 

Will the example of the church be the important factor in 
translating the ideals of Jesus into social relations? Why? 

What changes are necessary in order to have the church as 
employer follow Jesus? 

What would be Christian relations between churches of 
various faiths and backgrounds? 

What is necessary for the church to conduct missions in a 
Christian spirit? 

What is the way of Jesus in doing service unto others? 


MATERIAL FOR DISCUSSION 
Need of New Life in the Church 


What, then, are we—here and now—to do? 

We are called, first to build up a new life of fellowship in 
the church for the world. The Christian society, as we have 
seen, is ideally a spiritual fellowship dominated by the idea 
of the kingdom of God. It is a brotherhood so intimately 


146 


DOES THE CHURCH FOLLOW JESUS? 


united with Christ that it is his body; its members are his 
members. It is so filled and fused with the Holy Spirit. that 
its separate elements are fitly framed together in his living 
temple. It has the mind of Christ so fully and in such unity 
that his will is its will and it thinks his thought. And as his 
thought and will are for the redemption of men everywhere, 
that aim—the coming of his Kingdom—dominates its life, 

Holding this ideal of the life of the church before us steadily, 
with its outline clearly focussed, we discover at least four lines 
along which the practice of fellowship in the church can be ad- 
ventured; each avenue of exploration being vitally linked with 
all the others. There is, first, the life of that congregation of 
Christian folk with whom we worship under one roof; there is 
secondly, fellowship in cooperation with the other local groups 
or congregations—the Christians of other denominations in the 
place where we live; there is, thirdly, the whole life of the 
denomination to which our own little local congregation be- 
longs; and there is, fourthly, the fellowship on the larger 
scale of “the holy church throughout all the world.”—Reprinted 
from Fellowship, by Basil Mathews and Harry Bisseker, by 
permission of George H. Doran Company. 


The Church as Owner and Employer 


The following paragraphs are from the account of the Con- 
ference of the Methodist Federation of Social Service, held in 
Evanston, IIl., June 15-17, 1926, as reported in Zion’s Herald 
for June 23, 1926: 

The discussion of ‘The Gherc and Its Property’ was 
opened by Rev. F. Ernest Johnson of the Federal Council of 
Churches, and centered about questions concerning the sources 
of the church’s gifts, the responsibility of the church for its 
invesuments and the degree of involvement in the economic 
order which the church’s material possessions incur. 

Mr. Johnson insisted that the church must maintain an 
attitude of criticism and evaluation with reference to this 
whole subject and must therefore avoid becoming “property- 
minded.” Admitting that the line is hard to draw between 
possessions that are justified and those that are too much, he 
said that the church must not allow its holdings to reach the 
point where it becomes easier for it as an institution to do 


147 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


violence to religious and ethical tradition than to suffer any 
jar to its economic status. He distinguished between current 
income which involves no continuing responsibility, and thus 
no enduring “taint,” and income from investments which may 
involve the church, as owner, in moral compromise. He urged 
that the church should never accept a gift of income-producing 
property if it is not willing and able to bear the responsibility 
for ownerships and administration which the gift entails. He 
insisted, however, that merely selling or giving away an in- 
vestment that is morally undesirable is not a solution of the 
problem at all. 

The next topic was “The Church as Employer,” discussion 
of which was opened by Dr. Ralph B. Urmy of Bellevue, 
Pennsylvania. He presented statistics showing the inadequate 
provision made for the principal employes of the church, 
namely the pastors. He undertook to establish by citation from 
official documents that the Methodist Church is “benevolent 
and paternalistic. In factory and office, it pays the salaries 
and wages of the more liberal employers of the business world.” 
However, he said, the church does not lead, but rather follows, 
in respect to these standards. He pointed out that the Metho- 
dist General Conference is officially committed to the principle 
of democracy in industry but he considered that the church’s: 
policy with reference to organized labor was hardly in keep- 
ing with this declaration. 


Making Christianity Christian, by Frank Milton Shelton.  Pil- 
grim Press, 1923. Pamphlet. Study Course. 


148 


APPENDIX 





A STATEMENT OF SOCIAL IDEALS 


Adopted by the National Council of Congregational 
Churches of the United States, October 24, 1925. 


We believe in making the social and spiritual ideals 
of Jesus our test for community as well as for individual 
life; in strengthening and deepening the inner personal 
relationship of the individual with God, and recognizing 
his obligation and duty to society. This is crystallized 
in the two commandments of Jesus: “Love thy God and 
love thy neighbor.” We believe this pattern ideal; for 
a Christian social order involves the recognition of the 
sacredness of life, the supreme worth of each single 
personality, and our common membership in one another 
—the brotherhood of all. In short, it means creative 
activity in cooperation with our fellow human beings, 
and with God, in the everyday life of society and in the 
development of a new and better world social order. 
Translating this ideal 


I. Into Education means: 


(1) The building of a social order in which every child has 
the best opportunity for development. 


(2) Adequate and equal educational opportunity for all, 
with the possibility of extended training for those com- 
petent. 


(3) A thorough and scientific program of religious and secu- 
lar education designed to Christianize everyday life and 
conduct. 

(4) Conservation of health, including careful instruction in 
sex hygiene and home building, abundant and wholesome 
recreation facilities, and education for leisure, including 
a nation-wide system of adult education. 


151 


(5) 


(6) 


(7) 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


Insistence on constitutional rights and duties, including 
freedom of speech, of the press, and of peaceable assem- 
blage. 


Constructive education and Christian care of dependents, 
defectives, and delinquents, in order to restore them to 
normal life whenever possible, with kindly segregation 
for those who are hopelessly feeble-minded. (This means 
that such institutions as the jails, prisons, and orphan 
asylums should be so conducted as to be genuine centers 
for education and health.) 


A scientifically planned program of international educa- 
tion promoting peace and good will and exposing the evils 
of war, intoxicants, illiteracy, and other social sins. 


II. Into Industry and Economic Relationships means: 


(1) 


(2) 


(3 


— 


A reciprocity of service—that group interests, whether 
of labor or capital, must always be integrated with the 
welfare of society as a whole, and that society in its 
turn must insure justice to each group. 


A frank abandonment of all efforts to secure something 
for nothing, and recognition that all ownership is a social 
trust involving Christian administration for the good of 
all and that the unlimited exercise of the right of private 
ownership is socially undesirable. 


Abolishing child labor and establishing standards for the 
employment of minors which will insure maximum physi- 
cal, intellectual and moral development. 


Freedom from employment one day in seven, the eight- 
hour day as the present maximum for all industrial 
workers. 


Providing safe and sanitary industrial conditions especi- 
ally protecting women; adequate accident, sickness, and 
unemployment insurance, together with suitable provision 
for old age. 


An effective national system of public employment bureaus 
to make possible the proper distribution of the labor forces 
of America. 


152 


(7) 


(8) 


(9) 


(10) 


(11) 


(3) 


(4) 


(5) 


(6) 


APPENDIX 


That the first charge upon industry should be a minimum 
comfort wage and that all labor should give an honest 
day’s work for an honest day’s pay. 

Adequate provision for impartial investigation and 
publicity, conciliation and arbitration in industrial dis- 
putes. 

The right of labor to organize with representatives of 
its own choosing and, where able, to share in the manage- 
ment of industrial relations. 

Encouragement of the organization of consumers’ coopera- 
tives for the more equitable distribution of the essentials 
of. life. 

The supremacy of the service, rather than the profit 
motive in the acquisition and use of property on the part 
of both labor and capital, and the most equitable division 
of the product of industry that can be devised. 


III. Into Agriculture means: 


That the farmer shall have access to the land he works, 


-on such terms as will ensure him personal freedom and 


economic encouragement, while society is amply protected 
by efficient production and conservation of fertility. 
That the cost of market distribution from farmer to con- 
sumer shall be cut to the lowest possible terms, both 
farmers and consumers sharing in these economies. 

That there shall be every encouragement to the organiza- 
tion of farmers for economic ends, particularly for co- 
operative sales and purchases. 

That an efhcient system of both vocational and general 
education of youths and adults living on farms shall be 
available. 

That special efforts shall be made to ensure the farmer 
adequate social institutions, including the church, the 
school, the library, means of recreation, good local govern- 
ment, and particularly the best possible farm home. 
That there shall be a widespread development of organ- 
ized rural communities, thoroughly democratic, completely 
cooperative, and possessed with the spirit of the common 


welfare. 
153 


(7) 


(2 


fae 


(3 


“— 


THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 


That there shall be the fullest measure of friendly recipro- 
cal cooperation between the rural and city workers. 


IV. Into Racial Relations means: 


The practice of the American principle of the same pro- 
tection and rights for all races who share our common life. 


-The elimination of racial discrimination, and substitution 


of full brotherly treatment for all races in America. 


The fullest cooperation between the churches of various 
races, even though of different denominations. 


Educational and social equipment for the special needs of 
immigrants, with government information bureaus. 


V. Into International Relations means: 


The removal of every unjust barrier of trade, color, 
creed, and race, and the practice of equal justice for all 
nations, 


The administration of the property and privileges within 
each country so that they will be of the greatest benefit 
not only to that nation but to all the world. 


Discouragement of all propaganda tending to mislead 
peoples in their international relations or to create’ prej- 
udice. 


The replacement of selfish imperialism by such disin- 
terested treatment of backward nations as to contribute 
the maximum to the welfare of each nation and of all the 
world. 


The abolition of military armaments by all nations except 
for an internal police force. 


That the church of Christ as an institution should not be 
used as an instrument or an agency in the support of war. 


A permanent association of the nations for world peace 
and good will, the outlawry of war, and the settling of all 
differences between nations by conference, arbitration, or 
ky an international court. 


154 


APPENDIX 


We believe it is the duty of every church to investi- 
gate local moral and economic conditions as well as to 
know world needs. We believe that it is only as our 
churches themselves follow the example and spirit of 
Jesus in the fullest sense—translating these social ideals 
into the daily life of the church and the community— 
that we can ever hope to build the kingdom of God on 
earth. 

These affirmations we make as Christians and loyal 
citizens of our beloved country. We present them as 
an expression of our faith and patriotism. We urge 
upon all our citizens the support of our cherished insti- 
tutions, faithfulness at the ballot, respect for law, and 
loyal support of its administrators. We believe that 
our country can and will make a great contribution to 
the realization of Christian ideals throughout the world. 


155 


Bookshelf of Social Relations 


Christianity and Social Science. Charles A. Ellwood. The 
Macmillan Company. $1.75. 

*What Social Workers Should Know about Their Com- 
munity. Margaret E. Byington. Russell Sage Foundation. 
25 cents. 

*Danger Zones of the Social Order. Sherwood Eddy and 
Kirby Page. 15 cents. 

*Waste. Stuart Chase. The Macmillan Company. $2.50. 
*Causes of Industrial Unrest. John Fitch. Harper @& 
Brothers. $3.00. 

*Modern Industrial Relations. John Calder. Longmans 
Green & Company. $2.25. 

Wages and the Family. H. Paul Douglass. University of 
Chicago Press. $3.00. | 
Incentives in the New Industrial Order. J. 4. Hobson. 
Thomas Seltzer. $1.75. 

*Christian Fellowship among the Nations. Jerome Davis 
and Roy B. Chamberlin. The Pilgrim Press. 25 cents. 
*The Profit Motive. Harry F. Ward. League for Industrial 
Democracy. 10 cents. 

*Child Labor in the United States. Ten Questions An- 
swered. Children’s Bureau Publication No. 114, United 
States Department of Labor. Free. 

*How America Lives. Harry Laidler. League for Indus- 
trial Democracy. 10 cents. 

*War—lIts Causes, Consequences and Cure. Kirby Page. 
George H. Doran Company. 15 cents. 

*What Makes up My Mind on International Questions. 
The Inquiry. 75 cents. 

*Year Book of the League of Nations. 1925. World 
Peace Foundation. 25 cents. 

“Imperialism and Nationalism. Kirby Page. George H. 
Doran Company. 15 cents. 

*The Adulteration and Poisoning of the News. Jerome 
Davis. 10 cents. 

*Christianity and the Race Problem. J. H. Oldham. George 
H. Doran Company. 15 cents. 

*And Who is My Neighbor? The Inquiry. 75 cents. 


? 156 


The Clash of Color. Basil Matthews. George H. Doran 
Company. $1.25. 

The Trend of the Races. George E. Haynes. Missionary 
Edijcation Movement. 50 cents. 

Source Bock in the Philosophy of Education. William 
H. Kilpatrick. The Macmillan Company. $2.25. 

What Ails Our Youth? George A. Coe. Scribner’s. $1.25. 
*Youth in Conflict. Miriam Van Waters. Republic Publish- 
ing Company. $1.00. 

*Free Speech 1925-26. American Civil Liberties Union. 
Free. 

*The Church and Social Hygiene. Thomas W. Galloway. 
American Social Hygiene Association. 10 cents. 

*Military Training in Schools and Colleges of the United 
States. Winthrop D. Lane. Committee on Military Train- 
ing, New York City. 10 cents. 

*Bulletin No. 2 of the Research Department of the Na- 
tional Education Association. (Data on Educational Op- 
portunity.) 10 cents. 

*Handbook of Rural Social Resources. Edited by Henry 
Israel and Benson Y. Landis. Department of Research and 
Education, Federal Council of Churches. $1.00. 
“Handbook for Community Organizations. J. H. Kolb and 
A. C. Wildeden. University of Wisconsin. 15 cents. 
Social Aspects of Farmers’ Cooperative Marketing. 
Benson Y. Landis. University of Chicago Press. 25 cents. 


The above list of books may be secured from the Pilgrim 
Press for $25.00. Those books starred (*) may be secured 
for $15.00. 


157 












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